Author Archive

Say Hi and the modern world

Each year, the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, along with its many partner organizations, sets aside a day where the focus is to simply say “hi” to people with whom we interact. It’s a simple concept that builds on the notion that it’s harder to victimize or stigmatize another person when you see them as worthy of a greeting. Much like the ‘golden rule’, it asks us to acknowledge another’s humanity by simply saying hello to them with a genuine smile.

Several years ago, when gaining additional qualifications as a teacher, I came upon the work of William Purkey, known as the founder of Invitational Education. His theory is that if schools (and by extension any organization) treats people with trust, respect, intentionality, optimism and caring, then embeds these concepts in their policies and processes, we will see more engaged and happier students and staff. The “Say Hi” program is the kind of intentional program Purkey would support. Simply greeting people each day and offering them a positive interaction creates happier places. Happier places are safer places because each person feels more of an investment in creating and maintaining the caring culture that results. We move from simply saying ‘hi’ to more of a relationship with another. We become connected and sociologists will tell us that the more connected we are, the safer we are. And one thing we can all agree upon is that we want to feel safe in our communities.

Based on the success of this venture I’d like to suggest we go a bit further.

How about pledging to keep our smartphones in our pockets, backpacks or purses when we sit across from people in a restaurant? How about we use this time to actually look into the other’s eyes, listen to what they are saying and not to whip the smartphone out like a cowboy preparing for a gunfight? Is it just me or have you noticed the same thing? Just yesterday I watched what appeared to be a happy couple waiting for their food to arrive. Each had their BlackBerry out and sat for several minutes responding to or sending messages with no interaction between them. It’s like the other wasn’t even in the same room. Think about it…how many of our messages/texts are so vital that they can’t be ignored for 30 minutes? Why not invest this time to chat about movies, books, the weather or perhaps even to explore shared or even diverse values and beliefs? Use that time to make or build upon a connection. A face to face connection that allows us  to explore our commonalities and differences.

Maybe we could  call it “Just Sit Tight”.

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.

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 Crime Prevention Council.

Fighting crime with a stopwatch and a pencil

I read with some dismay that the parliamentary committee created to hear submissions on the Government of Canada’s omnibus crime bill, often referred to as C-10, allowed only five minutes per submission. Five minutes to outline the deep and myriad concerns with this bill. Your time would be up shortly after the introductions. And this for a bill that would make significant changes not only to our criminal justice system, but to the very core of what we believe about rehabilitation, restorative justice and mitigating circumstances. All at an increased cost for taxpayers worried about another recession, led by a government perceived to be fiscally conservative.

While most public institutions like hospitals and schools are required to be more accountable by using the best available research to make responsible decisions, we appear to be seeing a government blind to the experience of other jurisdictions who used a ‘tough on crime’ approach. Even the United States, which has the highest incarceration rate in the world, is increasingly moving to alternative measures in diverting perpetrators from jails. And not necessarily because it reduces recidivism, but because it is simply less expensive to reduce jail time in favour of alternate approaches.

While we all want safer communities, how we get there is a matter of some dispute. Naturally with any proposed legislation there are supporters and challengers. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, not surprisingly, supports the legislation for its focus on victims while the Canadian Bar Association had this to say:

“In our view, the initiatives in Bill C-10 go in a contrary direction. They adopt a punitive approach to criminal behavior, rather than one concentrated on how to prevent that behavior in the first place, or rehabilitate those who do offend. As most offenders will one day return to their communities, we know that prevention and rehabilitation are most likely to contribute to public safety. The proposed initiatives also move Canada along a road that has clearly failed in other countries. Rather than replicate that failure, at enormous public expense, we might instead learn from those countries’ experience.”

You can read the full submission here.

The Bar Association exposes serious flaws in the proposed legislation, namely that it does not address the root causes of crime in any proactive way. It does not deal effectively with poverty, addiction, low levels of educational achievement, mental health, trauma or other factors that will still be there when the offender is eventually released. And all, in their words, “at enormous public expense”.  It seems the Government does not know the difference between ‘spending’ and ‘investment’.

It makes one wonder who wrote the various pieces of legislation that make up Bill C-10. Are they using all the information available to them in crafting the bill? Do they truly understand the impact on correctional facilities and families if this moves forward in its present form? Are they truly consulting widely and listening fully to the concerns raised by citizens and organizations with experience, expertise and understanding about crime?

I don’t think so. It reminds me of a quote from former president Dwight Eisenhower:

“Farming looks pretty easy when your plough is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from a corn field.”

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 Crime Prevention Council.

Festival of Neighbourhoods: Building Safer Communities through Placemaking

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been writing about placemaking. In part because we just had a fantastic event with Cynthia Nikitin of the Project for Public Spaces, but also because placemaking is a great, ‘smart on crime’, crime prevention tool for neighbourhoods and communities. The Festival of Neighbourhoods in Kitchener, Ontario, is a perfect example of placemaking in action.

Created as a “throw a community party, plan a project and get to know your neighbours” kind of event, the Festival of Neighbourhoods has become a great deal more. That “throw a party” approach has led to strengthened community connections and interactions among neighbours where engaged, everyday people make a difference in their community, every day.

In recent decades, society and technology has changed so much that we now spend less time connecting with each other, face to face, and more time at work, in front of screens, in our cars and in our homes. Getting to know the people who live next door and down the street really can make you happier knowing there are folks close by that you can count on.

In crime prevention the saying goes that “a connected community is a safer community”, which is why we, at the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council has sponsored the “Safer Neighbourhood” award at the Festival of Neighbourhoods for the last number of years. The award is for a neighbourhood that hosted an event with the intention of creating a safer community through activities related to community safety, safety awareness and crime-prevention.

Festival of Neighbourhoods – Winners of the Safer Neighbourhood Award

The winner of this year’s “Safer Neighbourhood” award was the Victoria Park Neighbourhood Association for their Henry Sturm Community Festival. The neighbourhood organized a clean up to raise awareness about a neglected, but much loved wooded area along a stretch of the Iron Horse Trail that backs onto many properties in the community. But more importantly, they held a tree planting ceremony in memory of their neighbour who lost his life on New Year’s Eve 2010 on the very same trail behind their houses. It was a chance for family, friends, neighbours and supporters to honour his life and the contributions he made to the neighbourhood which included friendly hellos, a helping hand and time to stop and chat.

This community festival held by a group of caring and committed neighbours is placemaking in fine form. The kind of connections established and maintained within this group will do more for creating a strong sense of place, safety and community than real estate values, fancy design and planned communities could ever do.
Here at the Crime Prevention Council, we have another saying: “Together for a safer community”. We all have a role to play in making and creating safer communities and one way is through building stronger connections with the people who live around us.

What ‘smart on crime’ actions are you taking in your neighbourhood to build connections… and have a little fun?

‘Placemaking’ for a Safer Community

‘Placemaking’ is fast becoming a new ‘buzz word’. But what does it really mean anyway? It ends in ‘ing’ so that means it’s a verb, which means some kind of action is happening… What kind of action is required to ‘make a place’? And what does ‘making a place’ have to do with crime prevention and being smart on crime?

Well, the good folks at the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) in New York have a lot of experience with ‘placemaking’. In fact, it’s their entire philosophy. To PPS, placemaking is simply an approach for creating and/or transforming safe public spaces (e.g. civic squares, markets, streets, parks & trails, public buildings, transportation, downtown areas, etc). This approach engages community residents and decision-makers in the process and the ultimate purpose is to create spaces and places that are vibrant, dynamic, safe and healthy.

So, why does this matter to crime prevention?
We know from the work of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) that people feel uncomfortable or fearful in places and spaces that look and/or feel unsafe or dangerous. There’s a domino effect here – if people don’t feel safe in a public place, people don’t go there. If people don’t go there, most likely the space doesn’t get used for what it was intended. When ‘legitimate’ use of a space doesn’t take place, quite often, less desirable activities will take its place. Placemaking can help to turn a place around.

One of our roles as the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council (WRCPC) is keep our area municipalities engaged in the very important role they have to play in municipal-based crime prevention. Building on events we’ve done in the past, WRCPC has engaged Cynthia Nikitin from Project for Public Spaces to visit Waterloo Region on October 20 & 21, 2011. Cynthia will present a free public talk and workshop on community safety and crime prevention through placemaking.
You can register here for both events.

So, why does this matter to municipalities?
Municipalities are the closest level of government to the places where we live, work and play. Decisions made at the municipal level have the most direct impact on the public spaces in our neighbourhoods and communities. We know that vibrant, dynamic, safe & healthy public spaces and neighbourhoods play a very important part in community life. They are effective for:

• increasing social interaction and cohesion
• reducing crime and fear of crime
• increasing perceptions of safety
• encouraging legitimate activity & discouraging less desired activity
• developing a sense of ownership among community residents
• improving “liveability” in neighbourhoods

While talking with many people about these events, I’ve heard the same comment several times…. “Wow, I’ve never thought about crime prevention that way before, but it makes total sense!” Smart on crime is all about using evidence-based solutions for challenges facing our communities related to crime, fear of crime and victimization. Placemaking has been proven to work. Often, the best solutions are not the most expensive or the most complicated. The solutions that work are the ones where the community is directly involved in the creating the solution and where the community takes continued ownership for making a place their own.

We’ll be posting several more articles over the next few weeks on the topics of crime prevention, placemaking, public space and community safety. Have you had experiences with placemaking? Good, bad, or otherwise? Tell us your placemaking story.

Crime. Time. Dime. An Omnibus Poem

With a zang and a zing
The bells of parliament did ring
To signal the new season
Of parliamentary reason

The message was clear
To all who could hear
“Changes in law are coming this fall
Our omnibus is big, our orders are tall
We’ll do what we said, we have the right and the votes,
The cost and the outcomes…. We’ll get to that footnote”

“We’ve got plans for these thugs, these thugs and their drugs
We’ve got a majority – no time for soft hugs
If you can’t do the time
Then don’t do the crime
Please, don’t waste our citizens’ dime
With all your prime time crime”

It’s a puzzle, yes, a puzzle, said the people
Who gathered in places with town halls & tall steeples
And online in real time, they talked about crime
About tougher and smarter, ways to spend dimes

The people said, I don’t understand, you see
Why the big rush for an omnibus accompli?
The people said, I find it so curious
These facts and these claims, all looking so spurious

Curious why…
A fortune is spent for prison invention
When just scraps are left in the name of prevention

Curious that…
There is not time for ‘wasting’ on research and cost
Really? The moment must be seized before the moment is lost?

Curious why…
Evidence, history, stats experts, unheeded
All of whom know that a smart way is needed

Curious why…
We can’t learn from the change that now sweeps the US
Where 30 years of ‘law and order’ caused such a mess
With crime rates at the lowest in history
The toughness of Bill C-10, well, it’s a bit of a mystery

The people, they called and they wrote
They said, hey, we don’t need this omniboat
No omniboat, no omnibus
And we’re prepared to cause a big fuss

They said to the Bill, this is just NOT for us
Where is the prevention in your big omnibus?
We won’t stand by to see budgets flagrantly tossed
As a tough brand of justice is royally embossed

Let’s get smart, smart on crime, said the people
Who all got busy in places with town halls and tall steeples
Working smarter on crime
Seems more worth our time
And easier on the citizens’ dime

So, let’s build a movement, a movement for change
Let’s get creative, a few things to rearrange
We’ve got plans too, for the way things get done
This community is smarter, second to none

Here we go, watch us go
Collaborate
Evaluate
Anticipate
Animate
Invigorate
Validate
Captivate
Authenticate
Participate
Negotiate
Coordinate
Concentrate
Elaborate
Generate
Recreate
Advocate
Integrate
Cultivate
Accentuate
The smarter way to go

Smart Link of the Day: Getting Election Smart

Elections are expected in seven Canadian provinces and territories this fall, including Ontario, where our Crime Prevention Council is located. Election periods always gain a great deal of media attention – the campaign stops, the announcements, the debates, the photo-ops….. But how do you know what a candidate really thinks on a particular issue? And how do you get engaged to ask the questions that are relevant to you? How do you know what questions to ask? What do you do when an issue important to you is not reflected in a candidate’s agenda?

Several community based agencies and provincial organizations are already steps ahead on this election thing and encourage people to take action using a variety of guides and kits created for just this purpose. Since everything we write about in this blog is related to crime prevention and smart on crime approaches to reducing crime, we’ve put together a list of election guides from organizations that work on root cause issues of crime.

• the John Howard Society of Ontario created their Election Guide 2011 which covers issues related to poverty, mental health, addiction, prisons, alternative measures, crime prevention, parole, the Ontario Sex Offender Registry… and more
• Step It Up – End Violence Against Women is a provincial campaign and provides free resources designed to taking during this election
• The Ontario Mental Health and Addictions Alliance encourages people to use their Election Kit to ask questions of candidates and your local media
• Poverty Free Ontario and the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition urges people to advocate that candidates make a commitment to ending poverty
• a campaign and election kit from the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association includes fact sheets and posters to guide people in asking the candidates to support stable affordable housing
• the Election Kit from Ontario Literacy Coalition equips people with the tools to help facilitate a dialogue with candidates at meetings, at the door and in writing

If you’re passionate about an issue in your community, contact the associated organization or agency to find out if they have any prepared information that you can use to inform yourself AND inform others.

Elections are just one of our civic opportunities to engage and influence the decision makers of the day. What will you do to make your voice heard?

Where do you stand “On Crime”?

Until recently, there was a fairly narrow dichotomy in perception of approaches to crime; you were perceived as either “tough on crime” or “soft on crime”. It’s good to see we are charting new territory with the language we use to describe our approaches “on crime”. The “on crime” slogans and taglines are becoming more diverse, but no less politicized.

In 1997, Tony Blair and the New Labour party in Britain ushered in the era of “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”.

As early as 2007, in Canada, the leader of the Canadian New Democrat Party at the time, Jack Layton, gave a speech titled “Getting Smart on Crime“.

In 2009, California State’s top prosecutor, Kamala Harris, was running for the top job of District Attorney. She published “Smart on Crime” which formed the basis of her election platform.

Shortly after this, we launched our own Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region community plan, along with this blog.

Since then, we’ve come across several more “on crime” approaches. We’re sharing what we’ve gathered here and will add to the list as we find them.

• Smart on Crime – Recommendation for the Administration and Congress [United States] – over 40 individuals and organizations designing policy recommendations, changes and analysis for the justice system; from the very top to the very bottom
• Right on Crime [United States] – A conservative approach that advocates increased public safety while reducing corrections costs
• Smart on Crime Policy [United States] – shortly after being elected, District Attorney Kamala Harris [California], launched her Smart on Crime Transition Team and set out their areas for reform

Language is powerful and the words we use to talk about crime, crime prevention and responses to crime have a significant impact on our attitudes toward crime. Let’s use them wisely.

Have you come across other “on crime” initiatives that we don’t know about yet? What about “on crime” initiatives in other languages? We’d love to hear about them.

Smart Link of the Day: What works? What doesn’t?

Early this week, the U.S. Justice Department launched a new website. Crime Solutions does one simple thing – it tells me what works and what doesn’t when it comes to effective programs and initiatives in criminal justice, crime prevention and services for victims of crime.

I love their simple, and visual, rating system. It uses evidence based research to tell me whether or not a program is successful at achieving its goals. Brilliant.

If you’re a research geek like many of us in the Crime Prevention Council office, you can also dig into the methodology behind the reviews, the evaluation outcomes and the studies referenced in the process.

Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region clearly supports evidence based practice for crime prevention. In fact, we would go so far as to say that being smart on crime means we support initiatives and programs that are shown to work or have promise, and that we stop supporting initiatives and programs that don’t work.

Makes good, smart sense.

Public Safety Canada also publishes a list of Promising and Model Crime Prevention Programs. It’s always great to have access to Canadian examples and several of the projects listed in this report we are familiar with. It would be great to see some more dynamic information about the programs… the U.S Justice Department just might be leading the way on that front.

Smart Link of the Day: Alberta and Crime Prevention

Over the last 5 years, the province of Alberta (Canada) has been making and taking great strides in proactive crime prevention. Not just in theory, but in practice. Just last week, they released their Crime Prevention Framework.

“Research has shown us that reacting to crime with enforcement efforts does not result in reduction [of crime] to the levels Albertans want to see. Crime prevention through policies and programs that address the underlying factors contributing to crime is necessary if we are to make Alberta a safer place.”

“Crime prevention is a responsibility shared by individual citizens, families, neighbourhoods, municipalities, community-based service delivery agencies, the private sector, and all levels of government.”

It sounds like we’re singing from the same songbook… Here in Waterloo Region, we also have a root causes/risk factors approach to crime prevention and the belief that together, we can make our community stronger and safer.

‘Smart on crime’ is growing!

Smart Link of the Day: Walking the Smart Talk

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris is talking our language of ‘smart’. Okay, so maybe she’s a little bit ahead of us…. she has already written a book “Smart on Crime“, and has a state-wide Smart on Crime Transition Team to assist her with the monumental task of overhauling California’s approach to crime and crime prevention.

More specifically, Harris recently outlined her Office’s philosophy and approach to dealing with gang problems in many of California’s major cities. The language of ‘smart’ is easy to find.

• solutions to issues of gang violence can be learned from public health approaches
• gang issues need to be addressed through with a combination of prevention, intervention and enforcement
• issues must be addressed consistently across regions rather than each city working in isolation
• schools and education can play a major role in reducing risk factors for youth
• rely on evidence-based intervention programs to help youth exit gangs when they are ready

Here in the Region of Waterloo we also have a ‘smart’ approach to addressing the issue of youth in our community who are gang involved at risk joining a gang. inREACH is operating locally to provide youth with one-on-one support, group work, housing support, employment counselling, addictions support and recreational activities. inREACH works as a collaborative of community agencies and schools wholly invested in supporting the success of young people wanting to make a change.

We all benefit when this happens.

Smart on crime, indeed.