If you think the Flin Flon of yesteryear was a crime-free Shangri-la, talk to Ben St-Onge.
St-Onge still recalls, not always with fondness, his stint as a constable with the Flin Flon RCMP from 1962 to 1966,
“It was rough,” he told me during a visit back to Flin Flon in 2010. “When you arrested somebody, you had to fight ’em, pretty well.”
St-Onge’s observation is relevant for the fact that it puts Flin Flon’s current crime situation into perspective.
It’s true that some scary incidents have been happening in recent times.
Downtown, a man was (non-fatally) stabbed and passersby were threatened by a man discharging a shotgun. At the other end of town, a man was the victim of a late-night assault while another man was arrested for allegedly waving a kitchen knife in broad daylight.
For the victims, these incidents have no doubt been traumatic, if not life-altering. No amount of assurance that Flin Flon is a safe community can change what happened to them.
For the rest of us, these episodes are a reminder that small-town camaraderie, which we wish could shield us from real-world problems, offers no panacea to crime and occasional violence.
Lately I have been asked whether Flin Flon is still a safe place.
It’s such a subjective question. It is obvious that for most people, most of the time, Flin Flon is quite safe. For an unfortunate few, some of the time, it is not.
As detailed in today’s Reminder, volunteers are now working to establish a Citizens on Patrol program for Flin Flon.
This important effort deserves the backing of the community. The police are not omnipresent, so the more eyes and ears they have, the better – and safer – we will be.
Residents have understandably reacted with horror to recent crimes, but they should also respond by taking all reasonable precautions to keep themselves safe.
After all, there’s no such thing as absolute safety. Never has been, never will be.
Local Angle runs Fridays.
