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Actions for Safety and Security: Integrating Safety into Urban Design, Increasing Police Presence and More
Members of the Winnipeg Police Service
November 12 2009
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This post is from the draft Call to Action and is now archived. The final version of the Call to Action is now available. Click here to read more about it.
Through SpeakUpWinnipeg, we’ve identified some actions that can be completed over the next 24 months. These actions respond to community priorities and bring us closer to our vision. While we continue to work as a community to complete OurWinnipeg, the City will work with partners to start taking action right away:
The design of these actions is based on an understanding of social (including cultural), environmental and economic sustainability. While the actions in this section may seem most closely aligned with the social “pillar” of sustainability, economic and environmental considerations have also been made. Additional actions in the City Competitiveness and Sustainability sections speak more directly to these other pillars.
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Action
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Description
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Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Policy
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Develop and present a CPTED policy to guide planning decisions – ensuring our built and natural environment contributes to safety and reduces the opportunity for crime to occur.
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SafeGrowth: Planning for Safe Neighbourhoods
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Through Neighbourhood Integrated Service Teams, and with community involvement, the Winnipeg Police Service and other City departments, integrate safety planning into the community design process while emphasizing capacity building and strengthening community bonds. This innovative strategy will be the first of its kind, formalizing safety as a principle of city building.
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Support Safe Communities Winnipeg
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Commit to supporting the efforts of the Safe Communities Winnipeg initiative – a big-picture and multi-faceted approach to safety. Safe Communities Winnipeg initiative is working towards World Health Organization and United Nations “Safe Community” designation for the City of Winnipeg.
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High-Risk Youth Exploitation Strategy
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The Winnipeg Police Service invests 30,000 person-hours conducting 5,000 missing person investigations each year. About 3,000 are children in the care of child welfare agencies, some with over 150 police contacts and as many child welfare agency involvements. These youth, when on the run, are at high risk to be criminalized, initiated into gangs and substance abuse, victimized and exploited. Recognizing that no single agency can tackle these overarching social issues, the Police Service is embarking on an innovative, new, multi-disciplinary, collaborative, strategy with networks of stakeholders to identify and intervene with high-risk youth in Winnipeg.
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School Resource Officers
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With funding from the Province of Manitoba and the support of School Divisions, the Winnipeg Police Service will expand the School Resource Officer program to 12 new schools – extending the positive safety connections and relationships between police officers, students and teachers to a total of 40 schools.
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Increased Police Presence
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Streamline Winnipeg Police Service administration procedures by making better use of technology, improving processes and forming new partnerships, thereby giving officers more time to patrol neighbourhoods.
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Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) for Crime Reduction
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The Winnipeg Police Service began operating CCTV cameras for crime reduction in February 2009. This action will complete the one-year pilot project and conduct a detailed evaluation of the impact of CCTV cameras at six priority sites.
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I think something is missing in this report.
I live in the vicinity of 44 Hargrave...a dilapidated building that has bricks ready to fall, balconys rotting out, and people and squirrels going in and out of.
Security is more than a police issue. It is a fire department issue and a health issue yet the City hasn't even posted a sign to stay out (not that it would matter to the squirrels).
I am aware this is a historic building but I would like to think its history doesn't involve injuring someone and I wonder how many we have in the CORE
omerus Nov 15, 2009 at 3:41 PM
@ Omerus - the City does respond in a timely manner to community requests for enforcement of livability property standards and derelict buildings in order to maintain a sense of community well-being and safety. However, there is always room for improvement. We need to continue to implement strategies that will mitigate any immediate safety risks for the community, and lead to the redevelopment of these properties in the longer-term. The community can help identify property standards issues that will enhance response times. However, the City must also follow the rules, due process, set out in the City of Winnipeg Charter and the applicable bylaws when dealing with these issues. Enforcing property standards is a significant element of a community-based safety and security strategy. This issue has been identified as a community priority through the SpeakUpWinnipeg process. One of the actions in the Community component of the Call to Action – “Taking Action on Derelict Buildings” - speaks to improving processes/responses to buildings that have a negative impact on communities. Link: http://www.speakupwinnipeg.com/blog/post.cfm/actions-for-communities-new-aboriginal-youth-programs-exploring-urban-agriculture-and-more/index.cfm -Ian from SpeakUpWinnipeg Ian Hall Nov 18, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Street and pathway lighting fall under the " safety " umbrella as well and I had a very frustrating experience trying to convince Public works reps to re - install lighting on the steps leading undwer the Norwood Bridge .
The response I received to my request was to re - iterate what I already knew , that is that vandals had broken the existing light fixtures and they wouldn't be replaced in their current location .
My suggestion to place the lighting in a more logical place out of the reach of vandals , easily accomplished in my layman's understanding of these things was met with no response from the Public Works rep I spoke to , actually a Bridge maintenance supervisor was his title .
A very frustrating experience as I don't feel I was asking too much to examine a better option in providing lights in the area mentioned.
Hardly a reciprocal interaction between one City employee ( myself ) and another .
bent4life Nov 19, 2009 at 3:31 PM
I want to thank Ian for his response to my post.
More importantly to me though is convey to others who might consider posting to this blog is that someone from the city actually reads it and responds in a timely manner and I could encourage all to support it.
I am also hopeful that it was City Employees who did an outside inspection of 44 Hargrave recently. If my post generated an inspection, my esteem for this blog rises to new heights. The hazards they photographed and pointed at to my satisfaction.
omerus Nov 25, 2009 at 5:54 PM
Hey thanks omerus.
By the way, my posted response came (as most of them do) through representatives dealing with housing, by-law enforcement and community development, representing 2 City departments and one outside agency. The highly-collaborative approach to planning used for OurWinnipeg not only includes the community, it actively involves the entire public service (and other levels of government, and other public sector groups).
Ian from SpeakUpWinnipeg
Ian Hall Nov 26, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Sorry - to clarify: when I say "most of them do" - I mean most of the City-posted responses draw on expertise from a variety of people.
Ian Hall Nov 26, 2009 at 11:45 AM
The following comments were e-mailed to the OurWinnipeg group, and permission to post them was granted:
It seems that this city can't have enough safety right now. Many of the features, such as High Risk Youth, the Cameras and policing of the halls are already being done, and it will be interesting to see what the finding are in this regard.
Doing the Safe Communities Winnipeg iniative and seeking the designation from the WHO and the UN, might be a smart idea for attracting more immigrants to this city, plus indicating to the newly arrived immigrants that are here that the city is making an effort to improve the situation. Also, as the police are not looked on favourably by some new immigrants, by breaking down these barriers this would be crucial in building up trust.
I always wondered why the police were doing the High Risk Strategy lately, and now after seeing it in the draft I have a better understanding. With certain individuals at a higher risk for other potential problems down the road, this may pay off, and the police should be documenting all and every stat on this so it can be continued in the future, and especially if provincial funding is necessary. Who knows you might get some future police recruits from this.
Regrettably, you have the School Resource Officers which have to be expanded, and that is unfortunate. But such is the case, and if it is really needed do continue.
Ian Hall Nov 26, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Hi Ian,
Thanks for posting those comments you received.
In our interactions with citizens, we in the Winnipeg Police Service certainly do hear that you “can’t have enough safety.” The citizen cites a number of areas where police have reprioritized resources or have used new approaches to tackle crime problems. Our philosophy of Community Support means a more deliberate approach to working with citizens or other agencies; a holistic approach, if you will, because police alone cannot solve all of society’s challenges.
One of these initiatives, The Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy, has been successful in driving down auto theft by targeting enforcement at the highest risk offenders. This multi-agency approach has been recognized internationally, and is now being applied to other areas like gangs.
With regard to the newcomer community, WPS, with some support from the Police Advisory Board, is currently working to build our relationship with leaders in that community. Part of our goal is to assist immigrants in understanding Canadian culture and seeing law enforcement as a potential career, as well as helping all Canadians to avoid being preyed upon or coerced to join gangs by the criminal element.
As the citizen also comments, the key in any of our initiatives is capturing performance measures to assure the public we are using our resources effectively and efficiently. Such assessments, as well as gauging public perceptions about safety, are important for us to hear. We are very pleased to be a part of the OurWinnipeg planning initiative, to hear some of that public input directly from Winnipeggers.
Steve from Winnipeg Police Nov 26, 2009 at 3:38 PM
More police don't stop crime.CTV deter crime ,but If a criminal wants do do something there is no stopping.Downtown biz is very good idea. There needs to be wage increase to 12$ min. The problem is if the min wage is increased then the stores bring up the prices. So food cost more and living from pay to pay cheque. Foreign credentials needs to be recognized,Canada is wasting talents. Info at: www.notcanada.comCreating better paid jobs would lessen the crime. Encourage aboriginals in High School to take tech voc programs. Take kids off the street by let them play sports: volleyball,soccer,tennis,basketball -hockey too expensive. City should allow to use gyms for free to allow people to play sports. Not every one can afford it, this is Canada no specials.Organize school bus for transport ,encourage kids to play championships to win prices. Look for sponsors in stores like Walmart,Canadian tire etc. We have this in Europe and kids play sports instead of dealing drugs. pressfortruth.ca Dec 9, 2009 at 2:49 AM
Thank you for your comments, pressfortruth. We in the Winnipeg Police Service can't speak to poverty reduction, though we do acknowledge it is a component of improving the health of a community. Police have been moving toward more proactive and preventative policing strategies, and this type of approach has worked well especially when in a collaborative mode with other agencies (government and non-government; and certainly including the Downtown BIZ as you cite in your comment). Integrating safety in the design process is perhaps one of the most proactive things that can be done, Also related to your comments, Winnipeg Police have partnered with the City of Winnipeg Community Services Department on “LiveSAFE: an interconnected crime prevention strategy.” LiveSAFE was the subject of a report to the Standing Policy Committee on Protection and Community Services on November 30, 2009. To find the report, go to http://winnipeg/ca and under the “City Hall” tab, go to “City Council Agendas and Minutes,” then “Standing Policy Committee on Protection and Community Services,” then “Agenda,” and select November 30, 2009 to find the reports presented at that meeting. Early programming under LiveSAFE has included sports/recreation offerings to give young people options. It’s a strategy that the Police Service is excited to be part of which we believe has already produced benefits and we’re confident it will lead to lower crime rates in the future. Thanks again for your comments. Steve from Winnipeg Police Dec 9, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Comments now closed
Call to Action for OurWinnipeg: Visions & Directions for the OurWinnipeg Plan Released!
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