Last night I put together a “Grocery Store Stand” for my four-year old granddaughter. I had difficulty, not because I hadn’t been engaged in a similar activity for about 25 years, reading with weary eyes “Easy to Follow” directions written for MIT grads. No, I had a hard time because I would have tears in my eyes thinking of the parents in Newtown, Connecticut who would not be prying open boxes, assembling bikes and bridges and stores and castles, assembling what would be the joyous shouts of discovery, of Christmas.
As most Americans, I wept for them and for this nation, this wonderful nation, this giving nation with nimble democracy, a nation that can change when it wishes, a nation that banned slavery, gave women the right to vote, passed civil rights and anti-gay discrimination laws, and, overcoming deep prejudices, elected its first Roman Catholic President and then its first African American President. A friend and colleague from Montreal, with whom I worked when I served as a board member of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime called me when Obama was first elected four years ago. He said, “I get mad at your country so often, your violence, your disparity of wealth.” “And then you do something like this. You are so flexible. You do terrible things, then you change. And when you do, you give us all hope.” His words were choked. He thanked me. He thanked America “as a beacon for what nations can be.”
Will we have this courage? Will we then, overcoming deep prejudices, passionately held views, agree to aim the diagnosis beyond the individual , to us, our social values? We protect what we value: if a car is defective, it is recalled, the driver not blamed for a broken axle; the FDA tests and retests drugs, and if one is proven harmful, as Thalidomide, it is banned; if tainted spinach poisons a handful of individuals as it did recently, the government stops growers from growing, not eaters from their menu selections. Recall that spinach was removed from grocery store shelves across the nation. Toys are recalled because the paint, if licked, can cause stomach aches, and large warnings emblazon plastic bags that can suffocate children.
But not so a weapon, a weapon once banned, a weapon of war, a weapon raised high in Syria, and Libya, a weapon designed for U.S. troops in Vietnam, a weapon that kills a roomful of children in minutes, a legal weapon, a weapon, a toxin in our civic stream that remains while spinach is pulled.
The ironies are almost too painful to recount. A sudden “international newsbreak” on one of the TV channels I was watching interrupted the agonizing, incomprehensible Newtown story to report on a disaster in Syria in which 20 civilians, mainly women and children, were killed. Syria, a nation at war. 20 dead. America, a nation not at war, 28 (this does not include others who were killed that day by guns across the U.S).
On December 15 the New York Times reported on a deranged Chinese man who stormed into a classroom of kids brandishing a knife, intent on killing. 22 received knife wounds, and 22 survived.
My life’s calling has been to serve and help improve the lives of children and families and the neighborhoods in which they live. I have served on the state and federal levels and as President and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council. More recently I have been working with 24 cities across America helping these cities craft and then implement gang and violence prevention plans blending prevention, intervention, enforcement and reentry (returning offenders). Those I’ve had the pleasure to meet and work with are the most committed, professional and courageous individuals I’ve ever met – among them law enforcement, educators, mayors, faith and community leaders, recreation officials, the philanthropic sector, public health and hospitals to name only a few . Yet their delicate and complicated work, work that tries to change a social norm to one that does not tolerate violence, one that supports, nurtures and protects, can be shattered by a shooting. “We are outgunned,” one law enforcement officer told me. Yet in the face of this fire, they continue.
And so do those living in war zones. I was asked to run a “listening session” of parents living in a high crime area of Philadelphia. One woman told me that her goals in life is to get her kids “to and from school without being shot.” She escorts her kids to school and back, sometimes walking on pavements “with dried blood on them,” and always by “little memorials, a cross, flowers for kids who have been shot and killed.” Just across the river in Camden, New Jersey on the City Hall’s front lawn, 55 crosses bear stark and public witness to the killings in that city . Not Syria: Philadelphia, Camden and sections of all large cities across the nation.
We hear “loner” this, loner that. Perhaps it is a trait among the shooters in Columbine, Aurora, Virginia Tech and Newtown, but most loners don’t kill. Do we screen for lonerism? Are we more violent than other nations? We are not a different species, but guns make the difference: anger and depression, however mild, have probably touched most everyone who has lived. In the face of a divorce, loss of job, death of a spouse, death of a child, loss of a girl friend, a few “normal” people can break. Spouses shoot spouses, rejected lovers shoot those who spurned them and disgruntled employees shoot employers. It matters enormously whether what is at hand for those who break is a knife or an assault weapon. E.J. Dionne points out in his Washington Post Editorial on December 17, that we should improve our “treatment of those who may be prone to violence,” but that this is “too often part of a strategy to evade any action on guns themselves.”
We must, at a minimum, ban the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines (and consider rewards on existing weapons and magazines that are turned in), perform rigorous background checks on all who would purchase a weapon, disqualifying those have committed a felony and those with history of mental health problems, and close gun show loopholes. We must also support jurisdiction-wide planning and implementation of comprehensive violence prevention plans that interweave prevention, intervention, enforcement, rehabilitation and reentry thus making every effort to change a culture of violence.
Bob Dylan’s haunting “Blowin’ In the Wind” asks “How many times must the cannon balls fly before they’re forever banned?” He continues: “How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry? How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?” Perhaps this time we will have seen enough, heard enough, been, finally, ashamed enough to acknowledge that the front line soldiers in this debate were little children who were slaughtered by a hail of bullets.
Business Week, hardly a liberal journal in its August 16, 1999 issue said, “It is vital to crack down on the handful of gun dealers who time and again provide weapons to criminals… There is no rational reason of any individual to possess an assault weapon. There is no reason for most people, especially those with children, to own handguns. There is no reason why extremists should determine government gun policies that threaten the lives of innocent people. It is time for serious gun control.”
The Greeks have two words for time, chronos time, as in 9:15 p.m., the time I’m writing this blog; and chiros time as in “wasn’t that a time,” an epochal “time” in history. Let’s commit at this time in our history to stop the cannon balls from flying, each of us pledging that this is the time to change: Time that this nation again rose to greatness by having the courage to change.
Jack Calhoun, December 20,2012
Director, California Cities Gang Prevention Network
Former CEO and Director, National Crime Prevention Council
Former U.S. Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families
Jack Calhoun was a keynote speaker at the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council Annual Justice Dinner in April 2010.Reprinted with permission from Jack Calhoun and Hope Matters.
Posted on: December 21st, 2012 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
At this time of year almost every time we turn the on the TV we see a film based on the season. My favourite is “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I’m sure you know it.
It’s a Christmas classic about a small-town guy (George Bailey, played by James Stewart) who falls into some financial difficulty on Christmas Eve through no fault of his own. His partner in his Building and Loan Association and Uncle, Billy, has lost his deposit on the same day the bank examiner is coming to inspect their books. Without the deposit they will be in serious legal trouble. His competitor, Mr. Potter, who acts as the town’s ‘Scrooge’ and owns the bank where Uncle Billy was depositing the money, finds the lost money and keeps it to himself. The Building and Loan Association loans money to people Mr. Potter won’t so that they can have a decent home and create a community of people caring for and about each other.
This sends George into despair and he contemplates taking his life in the hopes his insurance will cover the deficit and save his family from ruin. Up in Heaven (yes, in 1946 we could talk openly about that) an apprentice angel named Clarence is waiting for a chance to earn his wings. He is assigned to George so that he may save him from this terrible choice. He does so by creating a situation where George has to save his life and George, being the guy he is, doesn’t’t hesitate.
George tells his new friend Clarence about his troubles and feeling that he is a failure. Clarence hatches a plan to show him what life in his town of Bedford Falls would be like had George not been there to be a friend to so many. The town had become a gambling den, rife with crime and poverty. It’s a sad life without George and he has an epiphany that brings him back to reality willing to face consequences for something he did not do.
However, in the meantime his wife and friends have banded together to raise the missing money that saves George from disgrace and jail. In the climatic scene that closes the film (spoiler alert) as the family and friends are gathered by the Christmas tree, a bell on the tree rings and Zuzu, George’s youngest daughter tells him every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings. As he looks down into the basket of money raised by his friends and family he spots Clarence’s favourite book with an inscription “No man is a failure who has friends”. You may remember the scene. George is a friend to many in his hometown of Bedford Falls and at that moment he experiences the fruit of all the friendships he has made over the years. It is a powerful story, almost a parable, about as far away from “Bad Santa” as you can get.
The concept of “friends” and the influential role they play in our lives and our projects aligns with the initiative of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council’s launch of the “Friends of Crime Prevention” network. This idea grew out of the work done by the ad hoc Governance Committee, led by the efforts of Peter Ringrose and others. Their task was to increase the engagement of the citizens of the Region without adding to the Council’s membership, which is already comprehensive. The ad hoc committee did not use the term “acquaintances” or “associates” but purposefully used “Friends” because of its power.
Think of your close friends. These are people who share your passion and principles and who will stand with you even when things are tough; in fact, especially when things are tough. These are the people the WRCPC is looking for as friends of Crime Prevention.
What is a Friend of Crime Prevention?
A Friend can be an individual, community agency, business, municipality. Anyone with a passion for community
A Friend sees the connection between the work that they do and the opportunities to work together for a safer community
A Friend wants to become part of a larger network of peers
A Friend wants to stay informed about recent events, trends and research
A Friend takes action to create change in their own neighbourhood, community, workplace or organization.
No one organization, including the WRPS, John Howard Society, school boards, among many, can solve the problem of crime by working alone. We need their expertise and input but we also need that of businesses, social agencies, churches, colleges, universities and, perhaps equally as important, neighbourhoods made up of citizens like you and me who want to live in a safer, more civil society.
Another goal of the WRCPC is to provide strategic leadership in bringing many voices to the table and providing timely and relevant support, resources, research and sponsorship of events that will be the clearinghouse of ideas and projects for crime prevention in Waterloo Region. As you know, the WRCPC is looked to around the world as an exemplar of an organization that mobilizes the community to prevent crime.
The Friends of Crime Prevention initiative is a demonstration of the Council’s commitment to meeting the goals of its Strategic Plan. This network of friends, working collaboratively with each other and the Council shows that it takes a village to also create a community. It gives us access to a broader alliance of people sharing a common purpose who can bring a new array of knowledge and skills to collectively own the goal of truly creating safe streets and communities, more by collaborative actions than legislation.
Like George Bailey, we believe in the power of community. We know communities are groups of friends who want the best for each other and know that safe streets and neighbourhoods are born from connectivity. Research based upon the “Broken Window Theory” demonstrates that citizens, taking an active and intentional role in their community, help make it safer. In that theory, if no one intervenes to keep a neighbourhood safe, then it will continue to deteriorate and can become criminalized as the sense of community is lost since there is no collective ownership of the neighbourhood.
By becoming a “Friend of Crime Prevention” you can, as Gandhi said, “ be the change you wish to see in the world”. It’s a pretty simple process. Just visit www.preventingcrime.ca/friends, and join.
And, on December 24th, grab some popcorn and enjoy “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
Oh, and some Kleenex too. You’ll need it.
Author: Frank Johnson is a regular guest writer for Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region. Frank is a retired principal with the local Catholic school board, a dad, and sometimes runner who possesses an irreverent sense of humour that periodically gets him in trouble. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario.
Frank Johnson’s writing reflects his own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.
Fans of the television show The Simpsons will remember an early episode where a casino opens in Springfield and Marge becomes addicted to gambling.
The episode continues with Marge neglecting the Simpson family and Homer ultimately declaring “the only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it’s time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!”
Oh Gamblor, the problem gambling demon that many fear moves into town when a casino opens. With the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation considering a new casino somewhere in southern Ontario, possibly even Woolwich Township in our region, we started looking for evidence of the link between casinos, crime and the impact on communities.
Do casinos increase crime?
Ontario’s casinos are government owned and operated which likely decreases the presence of organized crime in casinos. Street-level crimes such as money laundering, counterfeiting, theft, assault, robbery, drug dealing, and prostitution sometimes occur in and around casinos. There is disagreement in the research as to whether or not street-level crime increases when a casino opens.
In Ontario there is no clear link between casinos and crime. Since opening casinos in the 1990’s Ontario casino towns have not experienced increased crime. However individuals with criminal records may be attracted casinos. There is a lot of research from outside of Canada that indicates robbery and theft increase when a casino opens. The largest U.S. study on casinos and crime found that crime decreased for the first two years of casino operations and then increased three to five years after a casino opened, spilling over to neighbouring communities. Another U.S. study found that violent crime increased by 10% after a casino opened.
Casinos increase problem gambling
What is clear in the research is that the presence of a casino increased problem gambling in the community. Problem gambling, like any addiction, can lead to crimes such as fraud, theft, drug dealing, or prostitution. The impacts on family can be severe as problem gambling has been linked to increased domestic violence and child abuse.
Casinos decrease social capital
Casinos can erode the level of trust in a community by increasing fear of crime and therefore decreasing social capital. Calls to police reporting suspicious person are greater in casino areas, suggesting people may be less trusting around casinos.
So what can be done to ensure that Gamblor does not take hold of your loved ones? Casinos can take steps to promote responsible gambling including: information to gamblers, casino policies, and the physical casino space.
Having information on problem gambling visible and available to all gamblers. This includes putting gambling helpline numbers and websites on slot machines
Limiting the size of bets
Posting the odds for games and increasing awareness of how random chance works. Just for fun… here’s a great video on how random chance works and how to gamble responsibly (produced by Gambling Awareness Nova Scotia in cooperation with the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (OPGRC) and in partnership with Addiction Services, Nova Scotia Health and Wellness)
Not serving refreshments at gaming tables or machines
Training casino staff to identify and intervene with problem gamblers
Allowing players to set their own loss and time limits
Closing the casino for at least 6 hours a day
Having a gambler tracking system that helps identify problem gamblers and sends all gamblers regular statements on their winnings and loses
Having self exclusion programs that are well promoted and easy to use
The physical casino space
Having a registration desk where gamblers must sign in and present identification
Only having one ATM in a casino that does not take credit cards and has a withdrawal limit of $250 dollars per person per day
Modifying slot machines to eliminate features that encourage excessive play
Having fewer tables and gaming formats
The discussion about casinos and crime needs to be informed by evidence and we found that alongside problem gambling there are other problems that come with a casino such as the possibility of increased crime and likelihood of social capital decreasing. However some of these impacts can be lessened by casinos implementing best practices in responsible gambling. If Waterloo Region does choose to host a casino considering these best practices could lessen the harmful effects of problem gambling.
Gamblor will happily move in with a casino but we might be able to prevent his neon claws from getting a hold of the community. Do you know of examples where communities have successfully preserved their social capital and prevented the potential negative impacts of casino may bring?
NB: If you are curious about the full list of sources used for this article, email us at info [at] smartoncrime.ca and we’ll send you the whole list!
Keely Phillips is a Masters of Social Work candidate at Wilfrid Laurier University and has spent the past four months completing her practicum placement with WRCPC. She was excited to be able to use her love of The Simpsons to discuss casinos, crime, and problem gambling, marking the second time she has used The Simpsons as academic fodder. Previously, she used The Simpsons in her undergraduate degree to examine the gendered experience of leisure.
Posted on: December 17th, 2012 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
I’ve been asked this question. Not these “exact’ words, but it certainly felt that way when I was asked to ‘provide a rationale’ as to why we use yoga as part of our programs at inREACH, a street gang prevention program in Waterloo Region. Here’s the rationale I gave… which also seems to be backed up by a lot of good solid evidence.
All of the youth we work with at inREACH have deficits in the area of emotion regulation. In its most problematic form this may result in anger and aggression which can cause them to come into conflict with the law; less obviously, but just as seriously, many of the same youth suffer from chronic anxiety and depression. Additionally, many of the youth turn to heavy substance use as the only tool at their disposal to manage powerful feelings. In order for youth to reduce their drug use and manage their emotions well enough to enable them to make good choices when problem solving, they must learn self-calming techniques.
Yoga teaches relaxation and breathing techniques which youth are able to use in a variety of settings as strategies to regulate their stress-response system. By decreasing their level of physiological arousal (heart rate, blood pressure) youth are able to increase their capacity to stay calm in stressful situations and thus make better choices about their behaviour. Evidence suggests that yoga can reduce maladaptive nervous system arousal, thus making it easier for youth to strengthen healthy coping strategies and reduce their dependence on substances to maintain emotional equilibrium. As a result of its efficacy, yoga is increasingly being offered in accredited children’s mental health treatment centres such as Lutherwood in Waterloo, in custody facilities such as Roy McMurtry Youth Centre in Bramptom, and in community-based gang prevention programs, such as Breaking the Cycle in Rexdale.
One of the best parts of working on the inREACH project has been the opportunity to collaborate with local service providers, businesses and community residents to expose the young people we work with to experiences that they would not otherwise have access to. The results have sometimes been surprising. For example, last winter we began working with Meaghan Johnson at Queen Street Yoga to teach yoga and mindfulness to one of our groups for young people at-risk for gang activity.
The youth we work with have responded very well to the experience. We found that by beginning our groups with yoga and mindfulness exercises they were more grounded and focused for the psycho-educational material that followed. Many learned that they could use breathing as a strategy in stressful situations, while others continued to practice yoga on their own time. Beyond the tools they may have taken from it, however, all were able to experience what, to me, is the most powerful aspect of yoga – accepting and honouring who you are, in your body, at this particular moment in time, without judgment.
Now, I could have provided a purely economic rationale for teaching yoga to “thugs”. Something along the lines of… Yoga – 1 teacher @ $100/hour x 6 sessions/5 youth = $600.00 ($120 per youth ) Incarceration – 5 youth @ $350/day x 5/days = $8,750 ($1,750per youth)
… and let the math speak for itself.
However, wouldn’t you rather see a young person who can understand the connection between emotional triggers and behaviour, self-regulate emotions with consciousness, make healthy decisions and learn body awareness techniques that can be used for a lifetime?
I know I would. I believe our community would be a safer place if more of our young people had the opportunity for this kind of experience.
This is an excellent talk from New Leaf Yoga teacher Laura Sygrove about the power of yoga to connect the mind & body in very practical ways and start a healing journey in a healthy constructive way.
Author: Shanna Braden is a social worker at Lutherwood who works for inREACH, a collaborative project of local community partners to prevent gang activity in the Region of Waterloo.
Posted on: December 11th, 2012 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
I know a woman whose husband hit her so hard that he broke all of the bones in her face.
I know a woman who was raped repeatedly by her own father while she was growing up.
I know a woman who lived in a town house where the wall in the living room rotted through so she could see her neighbours but the landlord wouldn’t fix it.
I know a woman who carried her baby for 9 months only to be forced to give her up not knowing if she would be deported.
I know a woman who discovered her husband was sexually abusing their daughter.
All of these women live or have lived in our community but not in a women’s shelter as one would assume after hearing their stories. All of these women have served or are currently serving time at Grand Valley Institution for Women, the federal prison for women here in our Region. Whether or not we like to admit it, we are a prison town. As residents of the Waterloo Region, we are fortunate to house one of the six federal prisons for women in Canada. I say we are fortunate because we have been provided with the unique opportunity to support women like the ones I just described as they go through their journey from being incarcerated to rejoining the community and building a life for themselves.
It is through the dedication of local agencies like Community Justice Initiatives and their Stride program that community volunteers provide much needed support for federally sentenced women. Stride brings community volunteers into the prison every week to do activities such as crafts and sports, growing friendships and showing the women that the community cares about them, even though they have committed a crime. Let me provide you with an example of how we, as residents of this amazing region, can truly make a difference in a woman’s life by doing one very simple thing: caring about her.
Missie, one of the women I just described, started drinking alcohol and doing drugs when she was 12. Her father was very abusive and her mother left them when she was 11. She hung with the wrong crowd and eventually ended up in a relationship and had two children. This relationship was extremely abusive and it got so bad that she turned to drugs. Missie became addicted to crack cocaine. She started selling, got caught for dealing and was sentenced to 3 years in a federal prison.
Missie did her time at Grand Valley Institution for Women. She followed her correctional plan and when the time came, she was released with virtually no support and guidance. She was expected to be “rehabilitated” and know how to manage on her own.
As is often the case, Missie had to spend some time in a halfway house after her prison time. It wasn’t long before she was getting high and hanging out with old friends. Missie felt very judged and alone so it was hard to reach out and make new friends and accept the fact that she needed support. For Missie, it was easier to go back to her old ways because that’s what she knew best. She had never had any positive support when she got out and it made her feel like she wasn’t worth it and nobody cared. Missie was caught for being high at the halfway house and was sent back to prison.
This time, she decided that she was going to seek out support for herself and that is where she discovered the Stride program. Through Stride, Missie cultivated some amazing relationships with volunteers who went into the prison each week to see her. Each week, these three volunteers sat with Missie in the prison and listened to her, shared with her, laughed with her, cried with her. They cared about her.
While Missie was getting ready to leave the prison, these three volunteers helped her plan and prepare. When it was time to leave the prison, Missie’s circle of friends picked her up at the prison and drove her to the halfway house. After completing her halfway house time, Missie’s circle of friends picked her up again and drove her to her apartment. They had groceries and flowers waiting as well as household items so that Missie could start working on making her apartment her home.
One of the biggest challenges Missie faced upon leaving the prison was trying to regain custody of her two children. They had visited her every week while she was in the prison and she was able to visit them on the weekend once in the halfway house. Missie’s circle members attended Children’s Aid appointments with her and held her hand throughout the very difficult and challenging process of getting her kids back. One of the most challenging barriers to overcome was that of housing – Children’s Aid required Missie to have specific housing that she couldn’t afford and when Missie tried to get financial assistance, they said she had to prove that she already had housing in order to qualify for assistance. The perfect catch 22
With the support of her circle, Missie was able to figure out how to obtain housing that met Children’s Aid’s requirements and after a very long process, Missie finally received full custody of her two children.
Missie has been out of prison for 5 years now and is completely finished her sentence. She got married, she is a homeowner and she recently had a new baby, a beautiful girl. She is also giving back to her community by volunteering at a Youth Custody Facility in order to help the young men feel connected to their community as her circle did for her. By all accounts, Missie has “reintegrated” back into our community.
However, if Missie was here tonight, she would tell you that it was not easy. She would tell you that she would not have been able to make it through those dark, hopeless moments without the support of her circle. She would tell you that while there are some nice people at the halfway house and parole they are authority figures and if you are struggling they are the last people you want to tell because they can send you back to prison. She would tell you that her circle provided her with hope and helped her believe in herself that she could do it. When she was feeling down and feeling like her world was going to collapse, she would call her circle members and they would support her through any rough patch. Without these supports, Missie would tell you, she would have landed back in prison. To this day, Missie is still in contact with her circle members. Only now, it is because they are genuine friends.
The reason I am telling you this story is because the simple act of caring for another human being can never be underestimated. People often look at those in prison as evil, or as people who deserved to be punished and ostracized from society. However, embracing these individuals and helping them to feel connected to the community is the best tool we have to prevent them from ending up in trouble with the law again.
If this “heart-tugging” story isn’t doing it for you, how about this – community approaches come with a far cheaper price tag. The cost of running a program such as Stride is a fraction of the astronomical $220,000 it costs to incarcerate one woman for one year in federal prison in Canada. There are approximately 200 women at GVI. You can do math on that one.
One of the most important learnings for me over the years is that the women at GVI could be my neighbour, my sister, my mother, my friend – it could be me. Their stories make me realize how fortunate I am to have grown up in a two parent home with enough food to eat. I was not abused as a child or as an adult. I do not have a mental health concern nor do I struggle with problematic substance use. I have obtained my Master’s degree while most of them are still trying to get their GED. On the surface I seem to be the opposite of these women. However, after getting to know these incredible women it became apparent to me that if any one of these things were different my life could have taken a drastically different direction and I could have ended up in prison just as they are. These women are not the monsters the media depict. They are ordinary, everyday women who have been dealt a bad hand in life. Their crimes are often normal responses to abnormal and desperate circumstances. I have learned that a woman in prison is so much more than her crime. Missie admits she has made mistakes in the past but her crimes do not define who she is.
I work with women in prison in order to bring some normalcy into their lives and to bring some reality into mine. As a citizen of the community in which this prison is located, I feel a moral obligation to support these women in any way I can as I have been afforded privileges in my life that they have not.
Never underestimate the difference you can make in someone’s life by simply showing them that you care.“People do not want to be fixed. They want to feel valued”. I firmly believe this and try to live it out each day.
Author: Jessica Hutchison is Coordinator, Community Development & Research at the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. She coordinates the community mobilization activities and initiatives of the inREACH Street Gang Prevention Project.
The Smart on Crime blog posts for December are coming to you from the staff team of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. We work on a wide range if issues and topics – some fascinating, some curious, but never dull! The posts in the next couple weeks will give you just a taste of some of the things bumping around in our brains from day to day.
It’s our gift to you, dear readers. Look for the posts starting next week.
Posted on: November 29th, 2012 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
Has the Internet and its anonymity ruined civility? Let me be more precise. Has our ability to instantaneously respond to issues that we see reported in the media given rise to intemperate thoughts, comments or attitudes? What makes me ask the question is reading the reader comments to articles in any given newspaper, on any given day, on almost any topic.
One would have thought the comments are moderated but maybe this would be seen as a violation of free speech. Doesn’t free speech have some limits in the newspaper? I just don’t get why readers who respond to articles in the online version of newspapers have to demonize people with whom they disagree. I’ve contacted our own local newspaper numerous times on this issue but nothing has changed.
Whether the issue of education or health care funding, bullying, the air show or almost any other endeavour covered by the local paper, there is almost a guarantee that someone will either see a conspiracy, a government rip-off or some other nefarious plot to impose something on themselves or others. Is it the anonymity allowed that allows them to berate politicians, newsmakers, civil servants, immigrants and others they have a problem with without identifying themselves? Whatever happened to civil discourse where one can disagree without being disagreeable? If you think I am exaggerating, take a look at the comments on almost any issue covered in the local paper. Now, maybe it’s not a big issue because the people who write their missives tend to do so in response to those written by others. One tends to see the same usernames over and over again and they often battle with each other. I think it’s great that they like to be involved with the news of the day. More power to them. What bothers me is the vitriol that is spread and the assumptions that are made. You may know about the theory of attribution where we tend to ascribe the worst possible motives to others who may have offended us while diminishing any role we may have played. In this theory we don’t give others the benefit of the doubt that we may allow ourselves. If people want to comment in this fashion and fight with each other, maybe the newspapers can create a separate page where commenters can talk to themselves and not attach comments to the bottom of the online article.
I am not alone in noticing this issue. Rosie DiManno, a long-time columnist with The Toronto Star recently wrote a column decrying the anonymity allowed commenters noting that much of what is written can be considered libelous. She made the point that her editors would refuse her columns if they contained the same kinds of unproved allegations allowed in online responses. People seem to feel that the internet has given them something akin to Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak allowing them to scurry around the halls of the online commenting world unseen and free from responsibility.
T – Is it True H – Is it Hurtful I – Is it Illegal N – Is it Necessary K – Is it Kind
These filters are being used by students who have put a blue elastic band around their phones to remind them the texting can be used to bully or defame another. Many young people are unaware that some things they text or attachments they send are covered under the Criminal Code and they could be held liable for their actions. This proactive approach will not, by itself, solve the problem of online bullying but at least it’s a step in the right direction. Maybe this simple acronym could be used by those who comment online and whose comments seem to pass unfiltered through our local newspaper’s edit process.
But it’s not just the Internet where we see a lack of civility; I was recently at a local mall handing out “Say Hi” buttons to passersby during Crime Prevention Week and to chat with them about the work of the Crime Prevention Council. It was a study in social psychology to see the effort some people went to not to make eye contact with me. Their ability to duck out of my way would make them valuable assets to any major hockey team. One would think I was asking them if they would like typhus or Ebola instead of a Say Hi button. It was actually quite comical. Many responded to my offer of a button with a curt “I don’t live in Waterloo”. I guess saying hi is prohibited by a city bylaw in their respective region.
Is there a correlation between a less civil society and increased crime? Some think so, though the definition of ‘civility’ may relate more to neighbourhood development that what might archaically be called ‘good manners’. Certainly healthy neighbourhoods that are well taken care of and where neighbours actually know each other mitigate against rampant street crime. So, I may be putting myself out there by suggesting that if we were simply nicer to each other, in how we speak, how we write, how we drive, how we shut off our iPhones and BlackBerries in theatres and while waiting in lines at the market (you get the picture) might we end up with a safer place to live? Isn’t that what we want?
We all have a part in this; we could all use a little more ‘THINK-ing’. And maybe, the newspapers could rethink their position on moderating comments or at least, raise the standards by which it judges comments as appropriate.
Author: Frank Johnson is a regular guest writer for Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region. Frank is a retired principal with the local Catholic school board, a dad, and sometimes runner who possesses an irreverent sense of humour that periodically gets him in trouble. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario.
Frank Johnson’s writing reflects his own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.
Posted on: November 6th, 2012 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
It’s Crime Prevention Week in Ontario. Every November, community agencies, organizations, police departments, municipalities and citizens come together to raise awareness of crime prevention as a building block for creating vibrant, dynamic, safe and healthy communities. “Engaged communities are safer communities” is this year’s theme! We couldn’t agree more!
Your average neighbourhood superhero can make a difference every day with actions small and large. Watch our Twitter and Facebook pages this week where we’ll be posting tips and sharing ways that you can get engaged and be a friend of crime prevention in your home, neighbourhood, workplace, faith community, school, team, youth group….. you name it.
How do you engage in your community? What do you see others doing? Do you see a gap where some one should engage?
Love to hear from you – we know you are out there doing amazing things to create safer communities.
Posted on: November 1st, 2012 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
Being tough on crime often means talking about keeping criminals off the street, protecting the rights of victims and deterring offenders from either offending in the first place, or re-offending upon release. All of these things, however laudable, sound great on talk radio. In my very unscientific poll listening to a recent local talk radio program where the host interviewed the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada about toughening the Safe Streets and Communities Act (Bill C-10) about 90% of the callers supported this tough stance that would result in more offenders going to prison. Now, these are serious offenders, not joy-riders or B+E specialists. These are the people found guilty of violent offences. Tough to argue against that. But, have these callers thought about where we are sending these offenders and at what cost, or do they give much thought at all to prison, beyond it being the destination for bad guys (and girls in increasing numbers)?
“Canadians should be interested in who is ending up behind bars. Questions about whom we incarcerate and for how long and why are important public policy issues…Visible minorities, Aboriginal people and women are entering federal penitentiaries in greater numbers than ever before. Twenty-one percent of the inmate population is of Aboriginal descent and 9% of inmates are Black Canadians. In the last five years, the number of federally incarcerated women has increased by about 40% while the number of Aboriginal women has increased by over 80% in the last decade. In fact, if not for these sub-groups, the offender population growth rate would have flat-lined some years ago.”
Think about that for a moment. Does this not seem out of whack to you? How often have we heard our politicians or talk show hosts calling attention to these stats? Not very, at least in my memory. How long can we keep sweeping this issue under the proverbial rug before we need an SUV to climb over it? Why is this not on the national radar?
Mr. Sapers goes even further to paint a picture of today’s inmate:
“More offenders are admitted to federal penitentiaries more addicted and more mentally ill that ever before. 36% have been identified at admissions as requiring some form of psychiatric care of psychological follow-up. 63% of offenders report using either alcohol or drugs on the day of their current offence…These needs often run ahead of the system’s capacity to meet them.”
Given this, would it not make sense for the government to invest some of the money it is using after the fact to house these people to invest at the front end in some form of proactive therapy that can address alcohol and substance abuse issues as these are often linked to mental health problems? We know that it currently costs the government (in reality you and me, the taxpayer) about $98,000 to incarcerate one male (female prisoners are much more expensive to house, in fact about twice the cost) for one year in a medium security federal prison. By the way, these figures come from Public Safety Canada. I am not making them up. If that money were invested in mental health and addictions counselling (and it wouldn’t even cost near that amount) for a person when symptoms first arise, it would save exponential amounts of money after the fact in costs of incarceration. This isn’t bleeding heart liberalism. It’s simple mathematics. You should know that there is a range of costs for persons incarcerated that is dependent on whether or not they are in a federal or provincial institute, whether they are male or female and the level of security and so on. I think there are more options out there that are less expensive and arguably more effective.
Look for example at InREACH, the anti-gang project running in Waterloo Region. In 2009, the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council received nearly $3.8 million from the National Crime Prevention Centre (Canada) for a 45 month time period to create and implement a collaborative street gang prevention project that involved a collaboration among various community agency partners. You can read about the initiative yourself so I won’t take you through all it offers in terms of its programs like addictions counselling, mental health supports, job skills training, community mobilization and so on. Visit the site though. You will be impressed.
In a recent monitoring report of the project prepared by Karen Hayward, she notes that 210 youth have been referred to the program since 2010. If, and it’s a very big if, all of these youth would have gone on to commit crimes which would land them in a medium security federal penitentiary the cost to the taxpayer would be $20,580,000. Okay, that’s a stretch. It depends on lots of factors so I am asking you to give me some leeway here. So, let’s say only a quarter of these youth could be diverted successfully. The cost is still $5,145,000. Oh, by the way, this is per year. So, if for example we say that the program diverted 25% of these youth from a federal penitentiary over three years, at a program investment of roughly $3 million and without it, the government (again, you and me) would be on the hook for $15,435,000 – does it not look cost effective? And, interestingly enough, inREACH is scrambling for funding since the money is running out. It begs the question as to why, when simple economics tells us it makes more sense to invest upfront dollars that will save the taxpayer huge amounts later on. I know there are a lot of suppositions in my example that may fail to take various factors into consideration, but the message is still clear: pay now or pay a lot more later.
Mr. Sapers helps make my argument. “Expenditures on federal corrections totalled almost $2.5 billion in 2010-11, which represents a 43.9% increase since 2005-06.” Have we seen the same percentage increase going to mental health and addictions support? Well, it appears not. According to the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the federal government has cut mental health services at Correctional Services Canada including three doctors, 28 nurses, six psychologists, three social workers and two occupational therapists. These numbers don’t include the 18 nurses and five psychologists affected by the closure of Kingston Penitentiary who will lose their jobs.
When one considers, as Mr. Sapers’ report notes, that 4 of 5 offenders have substance abuse problems, 50% of federally incarcerated women report a history of self-harm, over half identify a current or previous addiction to drugs, 85% report a history of physical abuse and 68% experienced sexual abuse at some point in their lives, any cuts to mental health supports seem short-sighted. And I am not even touching on the story of Ashley Smith, as an example of what can happen to a person with mental health needs in our prison system.
As much as I think many callers to talk shows debating the tough on crime agenda reasonably want to protect victims, it might be time for them to think about what happens after the cell door slams. After all, at some point these people are coming out and will be standing in line with us at Tim Hortons or riding the bus with us. From a strictly selfish point of view, do we want them to come out healthier, more able to handle stress and addictive tendencies, more compassionate and remorseful, or just angrier and more damaged?
Is it time to stop pretending prison is our best option? What are we pretending not to know?
Author: Frank Johnson is a regular guest writer for Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region. Frank is a retired principal with the local Catholic school board, a dad, and sometimes runner who possesses an irreverent sense of humour that periodically gets him in trouble. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario.
Frank Johnson’s writing reflects his own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.
Posted on: October 26th, 2012 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
How to understand the complex nature and impact of psychological trauma in our community? Important steps are being taken in this direction by KidsLink, a Waterloo Region based organization supporting the emotional and mental health of children and youth in our community.
We recently hosted Laurie Robinson in a webinar to explore the prevalence and science of trauma and how our community can move toward a trauma-informed system of care. Participants in the webinar came from many different sectors representing children & youth mental health, addictions, health care and more.
But why would the Crime Prevention Council be interested in issues of trauma? Trauma (adverse childhood experiences, or adult in some cases) is often the root of many psychological, physical, behavioural and health conditions – and WRCPC is all about getting to the root causes or conditions. For example, did you know….
75% – 93% of youth entering the criminal justice system have experienced some form of trauma
Among boys who experienced a traumatic incident under the age of 12, 50% – 79% became involved in serious juvenile delinquency
Incarcerated women are more likely to report a history of childhood physical or sexual abuse (Justice Policy Institute, 2010).
Prevention tell us: “it’s easier to build strong children than to mend broken adults.”
I share Laurie Robinson’s presentation here to give you a starting point for finding out what trauma is and the impact it has on our community.
How do you see trauma affecting people you work with, serve, represent? What do you see as the impact within our community? How might a trauma informed system of care improve the lives of the people that you works with. How might it improve the health of us all? How could this approach have an effect on prevention, early intervention, effective treatment and intervention, the corrections & court system, rehabilitation…..? Let you mind consider the possibilities!
Post your questions or comments here and Laurie will do her best to answer them all.
The Smart on Crime blog posts for December are coming to you from the staff team of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. We work on a wide range if issues and topics – some fascinating, some curious, but never dull! The posts in the next couple weeks will give you just a taste of some of the things bumping around in our brains from day to day.