HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-12-026 - Statement on the City's Role in Neighbourhood SafetyKITC~HENEI~
Staff Repari~
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www.kitchenerca
REPORT TO: Community & Infrastructure Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING: May 28, 2012
SUBMITTED BY: Sue Weare, Strategic Planning Associate,
(519) 741-3400 x3261
PREPARED BY: Sue Weare, Strategic Planning Associate
(519) 741-3400 x3261
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All
DATE OF REPORT: May 22, 2012
REPORT NO.: CAO-12-026
SUBJECT: Statement on the City's Role in Neighbourhood Safety
RECOMMENDATION:
Report submitted for information only.
BACKGROUND:
At the November 3, 2011 meeting of the Safe & Healthy Community Advisory Committee
(SHCAC), members began working on the first steps to developing a Safe Neighbourhood
Strategy, which is a key item on the committee's current work plan. At that meeting, staff
facilitated a brainstorming session to articulate the City's approach to crime prevention and
establish SHCAC's vision of community safety.
At the January 5, 2012 meeting, a draft vision statement was circulated for review and
discussion by members. Members provided significant feedback, which was incorporated into
the final draft.
At the March 1, 2012 meeting, on motion, SHCAC resolved to endorse the final draft of the
vision statement, now called Statement on the City's Role in Neighbourhood Safety. At that
time, members of the committee recommended informing Council of this statement to keep
Council apprised of SHCAC's progress on the strategy development.
REPORT:
The Safe and Healthy Community Advisory Committee advises Council and staff on policies,
programs and services offered either directly by or in conjunction with the City of Kitchener and
that relate to the overall health of the city. Specifically, the committee is to consider and advise
on the municipality's role in community safety and crime prevention initiatives with an emphasis
on community partnerships and collaboration.
As with other citizen advisory committees, the SHCAC is responsible for developing and
seeking approval from Council on an annual or bi-annual work plan. A key item on the
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committee's work plan for 2011-2012 is the development of a city-wide Safe Neighbourhood
Strategy. This involves establishing an integrated approach to the City's work in building
healthy, inclusive, safe and thriving neighbourhoods - in partnership with citizens and
community agencies.
The first step in this process is to articulate the City's approach to crime prevention and a vision
for community safety, which the Statement on the City's Role in Neighbourhood Safety fulfills.
This statement provides a preamble to introduce the strategy by presenting SHCAC's vision for
community safety and identifying five areas through which the City plays a key role in crime
prevention.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The Statement on the City's Role in Neighbourhood Safety, as a key element of the Safe
Neighbourhood Strategy, relates to a number of strategic directions under the City of
Kitchener's Strategic Plan (2011-2014).
In particular, the direction "Creative People Live in Creative Communities" (under Development)
identifies safe and healthy neighbourhoods as a means of attracting and retaining talent. Also,
the direction "Perception and Reality" (under Dynamic Downtown) asks the City to focus on
increasing a sense of safety in the downtown through a variety of means. Finally, several
directions under the priority of Leadership and Community Engagement encourage the City to
promote opportunities for meaningful citizen engagement; the very basis of the Safe
Neighbourhood Strategy is to engage neighbourhoods in ensuring safety and health of the
community.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
N/A
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
The citizen advisory committees are essential to the City of Kitchener's approach to engaging
the community in decision-making. The Statement on the City's Role in Neighbourhood Safety
was developed collaboratively by the members of the Safe & Healthy Community Advisory
Committee.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Jeff Willmer, Deputy CAO Community Services, Acting CAO
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Appendix A:
Statement on the City's Role in Neighbourhood Safety
We all want to live in healthy and thriving neighbourhoods, where everyone feels like they belong and
everyone feels safe.
The Safe & Healthy Community Advisory Committee recognizes that community safety and crime
prevention are basic elements in the quality of life and sustainable development of municipalities.
Kitchener's citizens share this same understanding; public consultations have consistently identified safe
and secure neighbourhoods as a high priority.
As a municipal government, the City plays a key role in preventing crime and addressing the safety and
security of neighbourhoods. Crime and violence are highly complex issues with various risl<factors and
multiple root causes. The most efficient and sustainable solutions to crime involve multiple agencies and
actors in a municipality. We Know -through experience and from the research -that increasing
neighbourhood safety can be achieved only if all of the dynamic forces within a community work
together using an integrated and coordinated way.
We also know that it is often the most vulnerable, neglected and excluded members of society who
have the highest risk of becoming victims of crime and of becoming involved with the criminal justice
system. As a result, we have informally adopted a prevention approach to community safety that
focuses primarily on addressing the roots of crime.
Primary Prevention through Social Development
The City of Kitchener engages in many specific activities that are focused on fostering community health
and safety through social development. This includes, but is not limited, to:
^ Formal and informal recreation and leisure opportunities
^ Subsidy programs that enable participation
^ Neighbourhood-based community resource centres
^ Dining programs for older adults which reduce isolation
^ Professionally-supported volunteer and community engagement opportunities
^ Fire prevention programs
^ A corporate diversity program to build cultural competence among staff
^ Youth advisory committee
^ Minor sports programs
Primary Prevention through Land Use Planning
Effective urban design is demonstrated to create and nurture safe neighbourhoods. Research shows that
people living in greener surroundings report lower levels of fear, fewer incivilities and less violent
behaviour. The more, trees, grass, trails and shared natural spaces available, the more they are used
and, by extension, the more opportunity for informal social interaction and a greater sense of
community. Examples of the city's efforts in this area include:
^ Urban Design Guidelines
^ 2010 Parl<s Strategic Plan
^ Victoria Parl< upgrades
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Primary Prevention through Environmental Design
Pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, the removal of graffiti and garbage in public places, bright and creative
use of lighting, and well maintained and inhabited buildings and animated streets make public spaces
feel safe. In addition, the City of Kitchener applies the principles of CEPTED -Crime Prevention Through
Environmental Design -to all new development, through the site-plan review process and works with all
partners- including fire, police and neighbourhood members-to ensure CEPTED recommendations are
implemented.
Targeted Activities
In addition, the City is involved in fostering community safety and security through targeted activities
such as the Safe and Healthy Community Advisory Committee (SHCAC). The role of the Safe and Healthy
Community Advisory Committee is to advise Council and staff on a broad range of matters related to
building and maintaining the vitality and the health of this community. Specifically, the committee is to
consider and advise on the municipality's role in community safety and crime prevention initiatives with
an emphasis on community partnerships and collaboration.
Community Partnerships
The community has long understood that partnerships are the most effective tool for crafting a safe
community. Some of the city's current partnerships include:
^ Downtown Safety and Security Roundtable
On a quarterly basis, the Mayor holds a Downtown Safety and Security Roundtable where cross-
sectional partners gather to learn about and plan actions to address current and emerging issues
of safety and security in the core.
Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
The Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council (WRCPC) is an advisory committee to Regional
Council that works with community partners to reduce and prevent crime, victimization and fear
of crime. The goal of the council is to bring individuals, neighbourhoods, organizations and
government together to close gaps in programs and services and identify new directions for
crime prevention. The primary focus is on social development as a way to address crime at its
roots.
^ National Crime Prevention Network
In 2007, the city was a founding member of this organization with a mandate of building
municipal capacity to harness promising practices in crime prevention through the sharing of
knowledge and program models through municipality-to-municipality mentor relationships.
^ Enforcement efforts
The city continues to work closely with the Waterloo Regional Police Service to ensure a
consistent approach and message and collaborative enforcement. Enforcement staff continue to
train with various partners and agencies (ie. mental health, outreach etc.) to ensure proper
responses to various issues of safety and security in the community.
Considering all of the above, what is needed now is apartnership-based, community-driven vision of
neighbourhood safety, and a coordinated strategy for our collective work towards building a safe and
healthy city.
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