Posts Tagged ‘prevention’

SubArtSpace: Youth. Theatre. Drugs. Art. Alcohol. Expression.

Whatever stereotypes you might have about youth and drugs and alcohol…… just put them aside for the moment. Youth, like any other group in our community, are affected by drugs and alcohol. While many will experiment with this or that drug and drinking, still more are motivated to use because of physical and/or emotional pain until it becomes a problem. How to help? How to intervene? How to prevent?

One of the best ways to better understand and address the issues and challenges facing youth and substance use is to learn from them.

That’s why the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council and In The Mind’s Eye is pleased to present…… SubArtSpace.

SubArtSpace is a youth art and theatre based project for exploring the youth experience and perspective on substance use. Working with the world renowned MT Space and other local artists, a group of youth committed to expressing themselves through their art will face their stories head on in an evening of theatre, music, dance, poetry, photography and visual art. A single story cannot capture each youth’s experience.

This innovative event is for anyone who wishes to immerse themselves in the some of the realities of growing up today- and emerge with a fresh perspective and understanding.

When: Monday November 28, 2011
Where: Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate Institute, 787 King Street West, Kitchener
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm

When: Monday December 5, 2011
Where: Lang’s, 1145 Concession Road, Cambridge
Time: 7:00 – 8:30pm

When: Tuesday December 6, 2011
Where: Queen Street Commons, 43 Queen Street South, Kitchener
Time: 7:00 – 9:00pm
**this performance is paired with several films from the final night of “In The Mind’s Eye Film + Forum”.

This Project has been made possible by a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services with support from the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, MT Space and Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate Institute.

Crime Prevention Week Roundup

Last week was Crime Prevention Week across Ontario. It certainly was a busy one from our office at the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. Here’s the round up of activites…. they were diverse, we can say that much!!

1. Overdose Awareness and Training Day: Film + Forum – On Monday November 7th, more than 90 people joined presenters from Toronto and Waterloo region on issues of overdose prevention and intervention. Waterloo region and Toronto are just the second and third communities in Canada to offer overdose programs, despite the severity and prevalence of the problem.
   The audience was a mixture of service providers, people with lived experience and students. We were joined by people from Windsor, London, Guelph and Peterborough area, among others.
   
2. Changing Perceptions: 2011 Waterloo Region Area Survey – Last week, we released Changing Perceptions, a report that explores local perceptions of crime; fear of crime; and attitudes towards crime prevention. The first fear of crime report was released in 2009. Also, in 2009 the WRCPC made a commitment to regularly monitor perceptions of crime and fear of crime in Waterloo Region. This 2011 Changing Perceptions report compares previous data examining fear of crime with results from the 2011 Waterloo Region Area Survey.
3. Say Hi Guy & Say Hi Gal: Crusaders for building a safer community – with a very simple message, Say Hi Guy & Say Hi Gal hit the streets last week to Say Hi! You too, can help build a safer community by just saying Hi!
   
   
   
   

Thanks everyone for a great crime prevention week! Just remember…. there is a super hero in all of us. YOU have the power to make you community safer.

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.

A crime prevention week “caper” in Waterloo Region

It’s a bird, it’s a plane…. no, wait… it’s Say Hi Gal and Say Hi Guy! In recognition of Crime Prevention Week across Ontario, Waterloo Region will be visited by these caped crime prevention crusaders to remind us that we all have a role to play in crime prevention and it can start with an act as simple as saying Hi!.

We know that a connected community is a safer and one small way of building connection is by simply saying Hi to a neighbour, someone you see everyday on your walk to work or getting a coffee, a complete stranger on the bus or in the grocery store. Say Hi Gal and Say Hi Guy are here to remind us of how its done! It doesn’t cost a thing, it doesn’t take long, and the the rewards are worth it.

Word is there was already a reported and recorded sighting of Say Hi Gal at the Woolwich Township Council on Monday evening! Watch out for this masked marvel on the streets of Waterloo Region this week, and don’t be shy, just say Hi!

Say Hi Gal

Say Hi Guys

Say Hi – Cape Central

Say Hi Gal and Say Hi Guy are an extension of the very successful school based Say Hi campaign that addresses inclusion, student engagement, diversity and understanding. To learn more about the Say Hi program visit www.sayhi.ca.

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?

The Omnibus Crime Bill: What’s the Rush?

Fulfilling an election promise, the Government of Canada recently introduced the “Safe Streets and Communities Act” or Bill C-10. If passed, Bill C-10 would significantly amend the Canadian Criminal Code and related legislation. C-10 is an omnibus bill that includes nine pieces of proposed legislation covering changes from mandatory minimum sentences to tougher penalties for selected crimes. The government has promised to pass this Bill in the first 100 days of Parliament.

What’s the rush?

The government is well aware a 30-year obsession with “law and order” in the United States has been politically popular but has actually failed to reduce crime. Facts are facts and the failure of the US “tough on crime” approach (among others) is well documented. Unfortunately, Canadians are debating crime more than the weather these days, blissfully unaware of how much they will pay to implement a law whose major components have been proven failures in other lands.

From a crime prevention perspective such public interest in building safer communities is always a positive development. Everyone has a role to play and we can’t and shouldn’t leave the work up to any one order of government and its institutions. It’s a teachable moment.

That’s why the time frame of 100 days to discuss a major overhaul of the Canadian justice system is completely inadequate. Of course, everyone wants “safe streets and communities”, but in a classic American move this Bill lumps in everything from sexual abuse of children to possession of marijuana. If you disagree with the pot provision God help you because then you must also be “soft’ on sexual abuse of kids. The populist needs of a government should not stop Canadians from assessing how each specific piece of legislation tossed into this soup will affect the balance between prevention, rehabilitation, restitution and denunciation.

Some of the measures (such as Serious Time for Serious Crime Bill and the Abolition of Early Parole Act) will increase the number of inmates in an already over-crowded prison system from 13,000 to more than 17,000. Such huge increases come with huge costs. Adding more than 4,000 more inmates will mean spending an additional $1.8 billion over five years. And that is the just the federal cost. The provinces already pay to incarcerate more than 20,000 inmates at the current status. During a time of vast fiscal restraint such needless pressure on taxpayers to solve a problem that doesn’t exist is excessive and irresponsible.

In the end, the main question must be whether C-10 will in fact accomplish what the government says it will do: increase public safety. Unfortunately the answer is a resounding NO. Substantial research shows that “tough on crime” strategies have neither reduced crime nor assisted victims. And all of this is happening at a time when crime has been at its lowest in decades across the country.

So, let’s recap: during one of the lowest crime rates in history and in the midst of a crippling recession where people are losing jobs in droves the federal government is implementing a scheme that has failed elsewhere at a cost that will more than double Canada’s current public safety budgets.

This is not OK, and Canadians deserve a full and proper debate on each and every component of the omnibus bill.

Author: John Shewchuk, Chair, Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council

Keys for Community Building

As we all strive to find innovative ways of creating safe communities and reducing crime, sometimes the solutions can be quite astounding. But how do we go about doing this and have an impact?  The famous slogan utilized by Nike is a great start – Just do it!

We often spend so much time thinking about these strategies and trying to seek out funding for them that we get sidelined and forget that we are seldom able to achieve great things without the help of others. Another chronic problem we hear about often is there’s not enough capacity. In 2010 I was doing some research on street pianos in New York City. I was truly inspired by Luke Jerram, an artist that had successfully done this and calls the initiative “Play me, I’m yours”. Could this be done in a much colder climate with short summers and unpredictable weather, I asked myself. The answer was overwhelmingly – Yes it can!  And so the adventure began with another great summer launch this year in downtown Red Deer, Alberta.

The Ross Street Piano

It’s difficult to imagine having such great success without sharing it and engaging others that can help make a difference in their community. I consider this the key to great community-building initiatives such as the Ross Street Piano project. Local musicians, artists, businesses and residents have all done their part to make this a success. I tell people that it’s music to my ears. When I see the activity and the street “buzz” this has created throughout the summer, I’m further inspired. We don’t always need to reinvent the wheel when many successful initiatives and best practices already exist.

Does having a street piano downtown prevent crime? Well, if you consider the principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, better known as CPTED, yes it does. There is a direct connection between our built environment and the human condition. We interact daily with people in the various spaces we inhabit. When you generate positive activity on the street, it attracts more people. Jane Jacobs wrote “you don’t really get a clear picture until you get out of theory-land and into the streets for a closer look.”  This is what I do each and every day and it’s best practices such as CPTED that are preventing crime and supporting a proactive, well-balanced approach.

Our local initiative recently inspired another street piano project in the small community of Cochrane, Alberta. Their piano was placed outside this summer on a busy street next to an ice cream parlor and pie shop. Two criminology students from Mount Royal University in Calgary, with the help of their instructor made this a reality. Randi Boulton, a rising young star attended with me at their launch and played for several hours, entertaining a large crowd of bystanders. The more entertainment and activity we can generate on our streets, the less crime. Events such as this can also be the catalyst for connecting us with each other, a critical aspect of building community and improving quality of life.

Our community piano has now been brought inside for another winter. We’ve found a great new home for it at The Hub, a local arts and culture hotspot where people in our community connect daily. Residents, visitors, clients or anyone wishing to play a tune or two will be welcome to do so every Wednesday morning. Since it’s a local hangout for many talented musicians, I’m sure the Ross Street Piano will not sit quietly this winter and there is already some ideas brewing about the new artwork that will appear on it next summer – stay tuned.

Full story in Red Deer Living Magazine

Author: Steve Woolrich is a crime prevention practitioner based in Red Deer, Alberta and works with communities across North America. Steve is a believer of the ‘walk the talk’ philosophy and spearheaded The Ross Street Piano project with the support of family and friends. It’s truly a labour of love and passion for community. Steve Woolrich also writes his own blog, Target Crime.

‘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