abbyPD3(Submitted by Joanne Abshire) It has been one week since an elderly man was shot and killed outside of his front yard in Abbotsford.

A massive crime forum is set for Thursday night, aimed at coming up with ways to make streets safer.

Cst. Ian MacDonald with Abbotsford Police says they’ve brought people together to come up with solutions at events like these in the past, but he feels this time will be different.

“Where I’ve seen a distinct change since the tragedy of last week is more people seem to be stepping up to be number one, acknowledge that there is a problem and I don’t think that we’ve had that before.”

He says they have tried before to get this message out.

“Forums and we’ve had engagement pieces and we’ve done a lot things from an enforcement standpoint but I didn’t hear this resounding ‘we’ve got a problem’ and the last time I heard that was when we were dubbed the ‘murder capital of Canada’ two years running.”

But MacDonald isn’t giving up hope.

“There are a lot of people that once again want to work with the police department and want to work with the city to restore order and ensure public safety moving forward.”

He believes people are engaged, but part of the issue is that many are not reporting certain crimes to police.

“One of the resounding messages we want to offer people, particularly living in the west side of Abbotsford, we’ve had enough take place there already. If there is anything that doesn’t sit well in your stomach in terms of the behaviour of somebody outside your residence or neighbourhood, if there’s anyhting that you think is suspicious. phone us and we’ll sort it out. We’d rather know than not know.”

He’s hoping that will change after the discussion.

The forum runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Abbotsford Arts Centre.