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HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm Svcs - 2006-10-02COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE MINUTES OCTOBER 2, 2006 CITY OF KITCHENER The Community Services Committee met this date commencing at 2:17 p.m. Present: Councillor G. Lorentz -Chair Mayor C. Zehr and Councillors B. Vrbanovic, J. Gazzola, M. Galloway and C. Weylie. Staff: C. Ladd, Chief Administrative Officer T. Speck, General Manager of Corporate Services A. Pappert, General Manager of Community Services R. Browning, General Manager of Development & Technical Services S. Turner, Director of Enforcement K. Currier, Director of Operations J. McBride, Director of Transportation Planning J. Willmer, Director of Planning D. Chapman, Director of Financial Planning & Reporting S. Adams, Director of Communications & Corporate Planning M. Hildebrand, Interim Director of Community Programs and Services S. Williams, Assistant City Solicitor R. Willms, Supervisor of Administration W. Hughes, Facilitator of the Downtown Community Centre C. Goodeve, Committee Administrator 1. PRESENTATION -WATERLOO REGIONAL POLICE SERVICES -OVERVIEW OF LOCAL POLICE SERVICES The Committee was in receipt this date of the Waterloo Regional Police Services 2005 Annual Report and 2004-2007 Corporate Business Plan. The following members of the Waterloo Regional Police Services WRPS) presented an overview of police services in Kitchener: Chief of Police Larry Gravill, Deputy Chief of Police- Operations Michael Mann, Superintendent Kevin Chalk, Superintendent Dave Mazurek and Inspector Bryan Larkin, Executive Officer. Deputy Chief Mann advised that reducing crime and building safer communities requires a collective community approach and is a shared responsibility between the WRPS and the public. Inspector Larkin advised that Kitchener is primarily served by Division 1, which is divided into 10 zones with a Staff Sergeant assigned to oversee each zone and whom can act as a liaison between the Ward Councillors and the WRPS. Inspector Larkin estimated that there will be a 6% increase in the volume of calls for service in 2006 as compared to 2005. He added that thus far in 2006 WRPS has received 2,368 calls for service from Kitchener residents, with an average response time to Priority 1 calls of 5:25 minutes; which he noted is well below their target time of 6 minutes. Superintendent Chalk outlined that in recent years the WRPS have examined various shift options to provide an adequate amount of staff coverage to meet the public's demand, with each shift currently being 10 hours in length to allow for overlap during peak times. A snap- shot was then presented of a typical 4-day period for the WRPS, showing that most officers work beyond their 10 hour shift. He added that the current complement of frontline staff is insufficient to allow WRPS to respond to each call immediately and as such, they have developed the following 3-tiered system to prioritize calls for service: Priority 1 - an incident requiring immediate response; Priority 2 - an incident requiring response as soon as possible; and, Priority 3 - is an incident which is less impacting in nature. Superintendent Chalk commented that conflicts can arise given that what the WRPS classifies as a priority may differ from what a member of the public classifies as a priority. He noted that while a noise complaint may seem important to the person who made the call for service, they are not as high a priority compared to what the WRPS typically responds too. In response to questions regarding the implementation of a curfew for City parks, Superintendent K. Chalk stated that officers have recently undertaken frequent patrols of Victoria Park which has resulted in numerous charges being laid. He added that the difficulty is that sometimes officers will come upon people just "hanging out" in the park late at night, COMMUNITY SERVICES COMM11~'EE MINUTES OCTOBER 2, 2006 - 55 - CITY OF KITCHENER 1. PRESENTATION -WATERLOO REGIONAL POLICE SERVICES -OVERVIEW OF LOCAL POLICE SERVICES (CONT'D) and without a curfew by-law the officers are powerless to send those people on their way. He stated that a set curfew would allow officers to deal with this issue more effectively and noted that officers would use their discretion when dealing with members of the public found in the park past curfew. Superintendent D. Mazurek stated that while the City of Waterloo has no curfew by-law, they do have a nuisance by-law, which provides officers with the necessary authority to deal with similar issues that a curfew by-law would pertain too. Chief L. Gravill agreed with members of the Committee that it would be preferable to harmonize all curfew and nuisance by-laws across the Region. Chief L. Gravill advised that Kitchener currently has an officer to public ratio of 1:751, which is consistent with similarly-sized municipalities. He stated that previous staffing plans under- estimated the dramatic population growth that has occurred in this area and consequently future staffing plans will be developed that consider incremental growth in staffing to keep pace with the community. Superintendent K. Chalk noted that the WRPS will be re-designing its zones so that they are more equally proportioned to the disbursement of the population as a means of responding to the areas growth trends. Superintendent K. Chalk stated that in regard to Kitchener's Downtown, one of the toughest challenges to overcome is the perception that the Downtown core is an unsafe place. He stated that WRPS Unit 177 provides a visible police presence and, through joint efforts with the Regional Public Health Department and Kitchener's Property Standards Officers, the WRPS have been able to address many of the problems that previously plagued the Downtown area. He advised that one initiative being undertaken to alleviate the negative perception of the Downtown is to have uniformed officers patrolling the Downtown core during main commuter hours. He commented that this added security presence is meant to encourage more people to see the Downtown as a safe place. He noted that WRPS recognizes the importance of Downtown Kitchener and will hopefully reach a point where it is capable of having an increased permanent police presence in the Downtown. Chief L. Gravill advised that one of the main problems affecting WRPS staffing is that the local court typically schedules a substantial number of officers to attend court at the same time, which only serves to further deplete WRPS's available staff resources. In response to questions regarding traffic enforcement, Deputy Chief M. Mann advised that the traffic enforcement unit is deployed on a rotating basis throughout the City and when other officers are available they are also placed in locations of concern. He added that locations of concern are identified in part by calls received from the public. Superintendent K. Chalk added that if a Councillor contacts the Staff Sergeant responsible for a particular zone and informs them of a complaint they received from the public, that complaint will be noted in their monthly report which is used to determine new locations of concern. Several Committee members stressed the need for an increased enforcement presence in areas where the City has implemented traffic calming measures. Inspector B. Larkin agreed to investigate the possibility of deployment to those areas and to provide Council with a map and contact information for each Staff Sergeant responsible for each zone. Superintendent Chalk noted that most residential traffic issues are caused by people speeding in their own neighbourhoods. He stated that he knows of one neighbourhood where a resident went door to door and had each of their neighbours sign an agreement that they would not speed and would assist in monitoring the neighbourhood to prevent future traffic issues. He commented that while enforcement helps to reduce traffic issues, WRPS does not have the staff resources to monitor the entire City, which is why they encourage community groups to be pro-active in handling traffic calming issues. Superintendent Chalk suggested that Councillors could forward this idea on to the various neighbourhood associations as a means of increasing public awareness for techniques individuals can employ to resolve traffic calming issues. In response to questions regarding noise complaints, Superintendent K. Chalk advised that as noise complaints are not a criminal issue they are typically responded to by Municipal By-law Officers. He agreed that it can be confusing for the public when they call the police regarding a noise complaint, and a By-law Officer is dispatched. He suggested that a separate number could be established that the public could call when they have a noise complaint to avoid any COMMUNITY SERVICES COMM11~'EE MINUTES OCTOBER 2, 2006 - 56 - CITY OF KITCHENER 1. PRESENTATION -WATERLOO REGIONAL POLICE SERVICES -OVERVIEW OF LOCAL POLICE SERVICES (CONT'D) future confusion. Deputy Chief M. Mann added that a By-law Committee is in place composed of representatives from the local area municipalities which allows for the sharing of best practices. He noted that one initiative being pursued by the Committee is the development of a handout to area residents where there has been a high volume of noise complaints advising them as to whom they should contact in the future. Several Committee members expressed a desire for increased police presence in the Downtown, with emphasis on having more officers in the Downtown core during specialized times. Additionally, members raised concerns with the insufficient amount of frontline WRPS personnel, which has forced WRPS to respond to incidents on a priority scale whereby some issues that the public may view as important go unaddressed. Chief ~. Gravill agreed that it is unacceptable not to respond to all calls for service, but noted that even though a member of the public does not see a patrol car it does not mean that nothing is being done. He advised that frontline staffing issues have been identified as their main goal in their next staffing plan but there is also need to expand their community partnerships. He noted that key to expanding those partnerships is receiving feedback from local area municipalities. 2. PRESENTATION -JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WATERLOO REGION - SUMMARY REPORT OF ECONOMICS OF STAYING IN SCHOOL PROGRAM Ms. R. Willms advised that in April 2006 Council approved a $5,000. grant to Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region with a provision that the group must provide a summary of how that funding was used to support the Economics of Staying in School Program. Ms. Rosemary Trakalo, Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region, advised that over 12,000 students participated in this year's program with approximately 5,100 students being from the City of Kitchener and that the City's funding helped make it possible for 500 students to take part in the program. In response to questions, Ms. R. Trakalo advised that the program is run by volunteers and directed towards students in grades 7, 8 and 9. She stated that the program tries to instill the value of education early on as a means of dissuading students from dropping out of school. She commented that it is too early in the programs life span to determine its impact on this areas dropout rate. She added that Statistics Canada states that a large proportion of people currently on social assistance are high school dropouts, demonstrating the value in encouraging students to stay in school. 3. CSD-06-101 -STANLEY PARK COMMUNITY CENTRE -UPDATE The Committee was in receipt of Community Services Department report CSD-06-101, dated September 12, 2006 regarding an update on the first year of operations at the Stanley Park Community Centre. Mr. M. Hildebrand advised that through the success of partnerships with St. Daniel School and St. Anthony Daniel Parish, the Stanley Park Community Centre has become a busy, well-used space for all community members. He noted that the implementation of new adult activities and programming has allowed the Centre to subsidize some of its childrens programming and re-pay a portion of its loan. 4. CSD-06-102 -DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY CENTRE -UPDATE The Committee was in receipt of Community Services Department report CSD-06-102, dated September 20, 2006 regarding an update on the first year of operations at the Downtown Community Centre. Ms. W. Hughes advised that in its first year of operation the Downtown Community Centre has become home to the Victoria School Centre Seniors, local youth and the Downtown COMMUNITY SERVICES COMM11~'EE MINUTES OCTOBER 2, 2006 - 57 - CITY OF KITCHENER 4. CSD-06-102 -DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY CENTRE -UPDATE (CONT'D) Neighbourhood Alliance, which is a group comprised of 6 downtown neighbourhood associations. She stated that the Facility's partnership with the Waterloo Catholic District School Board and St. Mary's Parish has ensured that the Centre is accessible to all community members. She noted that the Centre's main challenge is the ongoing search for along-term parking solution in the Downtown core. 5. ADJOURNMENT On motion, the meeting adjourned at 4:45 p.m. Colin Goodeve Committee Administrator