Posted on: April 24th, 2013 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
This is the official position statement of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council given at a public consultation on the question of a casino in the City of Kitchener. The remarks below were given by WRCPC Executive Director, Christiane Sadeler on behalf of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight on the topic of a casino in Kitchener or the Waterloo Region. I am representing the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council; I also live in downtown Kitchener.
The Crime Prevention Council opposes the opening of a casino within Waterloo Region. However, in the event that a casino should be opened here, we recommend that the development and operations of the casino must incorporate crime prevention considerations and harm reduction strategies from the very beginning.
We have provided you with a full copy of the position statement and also included some materials that we believe are relevant in this context. The position statement is also available on our website (www.preventingcrime.ca). In the interest of time I can only highlight a few aspects of the position.
There has been no dialogue that did NOT at some point mention the concern that crimes increase in the proximity of casinos. Your own city online survey mentions safety along with considerations of health, city image and so on. Fear of long term impact on our quality of life is often as detrimental as crime itself. Perceptions can become reality. Right or wrong the connection between casinos and crime is part of public discourse. And perceptions are hard to change. We know that by now.
But what does the evidence tell us?
This is where it gets a little more grey. The research findings about a connection between crime and casinos are mixed, if not inconclusive. It would not be correct to claim that casinos have a DIRECT impact on crime, at least not an impact that would differ from that of other large entertainment facilities, at first sight. Direct links between crime and any one community action are hard to come by and must always be seen in the context of decreasing crime rates in the last decade.
We therefore must look beyond the direct connections to what we know about risks. What puts us at risk of crime, victimization, and fear of crime? It is here that the public health research is compelling and worthy of your in-depth consideration. We know that over 30% of profits in gambling come from problem gamblers and those at risk for gambling addictions. We know that these individuals share characteristics that are best defined as root causes of crime. We have detailed them in our position statement along with a report about root causes. We encourage you to consult both.
Simply put, whenever we increase the vulnerability of those already at risk, the financial and human burden to them and their families are quickly matched by the community and social costs. While casinos may not directly lead to increases in street level crime, they do lead to increases in other social ills and crimes, such as, intimate partner violence, addictions, etc. From a prevention standpoint these should concern us as much as public safety and disorder issues.
Problem gambling erodes the health of individuals and those close to them and by extension, of the communities in which they live.
The Ontario Lottery Gaming Commission does not deny that gambling addictions exist and that they come at a cost. These are brochures that are provided right at the Windsor Casino entrance, alerting patrons to these risks.
So, gambling facilities come with warning label. They also come with treatment recommendations if the warning labels were not effective. This is not forward thinking. This is resigning ourselves to the fact that along with these facilities will come problems.
Prevention is cross-generational. Are we OK with a baby born in 2013 becoming the casino patron of 2033? If the answer is, even remotely, “we are not sure”, then we need to hit pause and look more deeply at the research and the rationale for considering a casino here in the first place. Will the benefits justify the costs? Are we informed by the “8-80” concept? Is it a good decision for the 8 year old in our community AND for the 80 year old in our community no matter what walks of life they come from?
Most people who gamble may not engage in criminal activities. But those at risk of gambling addictions are vulnerable to many other issues that come at a social cost, crime among them.
We believe that for the crimes committed by the offender he or she is responsible; for not dealing with the root causes of crime when these are known to us, all of us are responsible.
However, if the decision is to bring a casino to our city the Crime Prevention Council recommends that prevention and harm reduction methods are included in the development and operations from the very beginning. In the position paper, we have outlined 12 harm reduction recommendations. These include considerations about alcohol consumption, placement of ATM machines, opening hours, self exclusion programs etc. The first recommendation is to establish a region wide advisory group with expertise in problem gambling prevention to provide input from the beginning, including during the RFP process.
In conclusion, the decision that you are faced with, in the mind of the Crime Prevention Council, is not to be taken lightly. It is a decision that will affect the well being of generations beyond all of us present here tonight. Waterloo Region is one of the safest and ultimately prosperous communities in Canada. We have become known for innovation and forward thinking. There is little innovative about a casino. We are on a solid path of creating and maintaining a safe and healthy community. It is hard to imagine that we can lose by passing on the idea of a casino. It is easier to imagine what we might lose if we take this on.
Thank you for your time and we wish you well in your decision making.
As Kathleen Wynne assumes office as Ontario’s 25th premier the time has never been better for the Ontario government to overhaul and modernize its approach to crime prevention.
And that overhaul is long overdue.
The current model of crime prevention at the provincial level is a fragmented collection of silo-restricted programs and services with multiple competing interests and little coordination. In many respects it hinders and makes it more difficult for communities at the local level to effectively engage in crime prevention through social development.
It doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council offers a perfect case study into what can happen when disparate groups with unique mandates seek and find common ground — thereby ensuring all appropriate forces are brought to bear on issues of common concern.
And what could be more important to a society than stopping crime – before it happens?
Adopting the WRCPC model of proactive mitigation at the provincial level would provide the government with a very simple, low cost solution to the current gridlock and would position Ontario as one of the world’s foremost “smart on crime” jurisdictions.
All it will take is some political will and an agreement among stakeholders that when it comes to fighting crime it’s far more effective to work together to prevent crime before it happens than to scramble in competition for scarce resources to clean up the mess after the fact.
To that end, the new Wynne government would be well served to move immediately in establishing a new Ontario Crime Prevention Secretariat (OCPS).
The OCPS would be staffed by experts seconded to the secretariat from government ministries that currently or would potentially develop policies and / or offer programs associated with addressing the root causes of crime.
This simple redeployment of existing resources could be accomplished with minimal new investment and would allow and facilitate a new administrative framework whose sole purpose would be ensuring elimination of A) inter-ministerial overlap, B) inter-ministerial competition and C) inter-ministerial lack of communication on crime prevention issues, policy development and program delivery.
If you look at the organizations comprising the multi-disciplinary Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council (which could very easily be termed the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Secretariat) it’s easy to see instant parallels with existing Ontario government ministries (all of which have a piece of the “root causes of crime” puzzle in one form or another).
The new OCPS could conceivably be comprised of staff seconded from any or all of the following government ministries (alphabetically):
Aboriginal Affairs
Attorney General
Children & Youth Services
Citizenship & Immigration
Community & Social Services
Community Safety & Correctional Services
Education
Health & Long Term Care
Health Promotion & Sport
Municipal Affairs & Housing
Seniors’ Secretariat
Training, Colleges & Universities
Women’s Directorate
Of course, taking this “secretariat” approach would also help the government more readily tackle the recommendations made by the Hon. Alvin Curling and the Hon. Justice Roy McMurtry in their “Roots of Youth Violence” report.
Unfortunately, this recommendation for an Ontario Crime Prevention Secretariat – while personally well received by past Ministers of Community Safety and Correctional Services – has never made it to the inner circles of government.
As Premier Wynne ushers in a new era in Ontario politics here’s hoping this proactive, cost-saving and “smart on crime” approach to crime prevention through social development finds its way to her desk and into government policy.
John Shewchuk is Chief Managing Officer of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board and a past Chair of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. John Shewchuk’s article 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.
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.
It used to be that summer was a time to gear down a little and take life at a slightly slower pace. Well, if you take a look at our upcoming events schedule for fall 2012, you will see that the Crime Prevention Council and many of its community partners did not gear down very much this summer! We were busy planning, organizing and coordinating a full series of events! Here’s a quick round up of what’s on offer.
Say Hi Day – Wednesday September 26, 2012 Schools across Waterloo Region participate in Say Hi Day. Building a strong, caring community is one of our most effective crime prevention tools. The “Say Hi” campaign aims to bring people together and nurture a sense of belonging and responsibility in our community. Participating schools can register for a chance to win one of two Connected School Awards.
You don’t have to be a student to participate in Say Hi Day….you can ‘Say Hi’ anytime!!
Eyes Wide Open: Overdose Awareness Day – Wednesday October 10, 2012
A full day dedicated to understanding the scale and scope of overdose and overdose related issues in Waterloo Region. The morning session is filled with speakers: an overview of overdose related issues of the past year; an attempt to understand the tracking and data collected around accidental overdoses in Waterloo Region; a major new report on the barrier to calling 9-1-1 in an overdose incident, and the story of a mother, advocate, author whose life has been affected by accidental overdose.
The afternoon session will be an Overdose Prevention Training facilitated by Preventing Overdose Waterloo Wellington (POWW).
These events are free but registration is required. Register here.
Changing Futures Prevention Summit – Thursday October 18, 2012
A one day conference uniting community members with national and international experts to discuss evidence-based approaches and practices to substance use prevention and mental health promotion with children and youth. Speakers include Dr. Kenneth Minkoff, Gabor Maté and Dr. Wayne Hammond. Registration is required. This conference is geared to Funders, policy makers, parents, healthcare professionals, early childhood and early years staff, educators, mental health and addiction service providers, police partners, child welfare workers, mentors, and community members who have an impact on child and youth development.
Trauma Informed Practice & Theory Training: Online Webinar – Thursday October 25, 2012
Trauma can lead people to experience depression, anxiety, withdrawal, difficulty eating and sleeping, emotional distress and behavioural changes. Ultimately this can damage an individual’s ability to function in society. In this training, co-sponsored by KidsLink and the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, Laurie Robinson will begin by reviewing the science to provide an understanding of what happens when someone experiences trauma and provide practical ideas and tools for direct service workers aiding individuals experiencing trauma.
Forum: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder – Monday November 12, 2012
Join guest speaker Dan Dubovsky, FASD Specialist with the SAMHSA FASD Centre of Excellence to learn more about FASD as a disability and the challenges faced by people with this condition. People with FASD tend to have significant challenges with the criminal justice system – learn more about FASD initiatives within Waterloo Region.
In The Mind’s Eye: Issues of Substance Use in Film + Forum– Various Events throughout October & November, 2012
Unique in North America, In The Mind’s Eye is an insightful and eclectic look at issues of substance use. Free events combining films and workshops make this look at substance use real and relevant.
Film Nights: Every Wednesday throughout November at 7:00pm, Queen Street Commons, 43 Queen Street South. All events are free.
The full schedule of films and events will be posted shortly.
Screening for Intimate Partner Violence in Health Care Settings: Online Webinar – Wednesday November 21
Geared to health care professionals in all areas who are responsible for regular patient care, this webinar will provide training in how to identify and support victims of intimate partner violence. Intimate Partner Violence is a serious public health problem and can be prevented. In this training, Dr. Robin Mason will provide background information on women abuse and tools that can be used to screen for intimate partner violence. Dr. Patricia Mousmanis will explain the physician’s role in aiding patients facing intimate partner violence.
Our By the Numbers feature is back with a series of video blogs by Anthony Piscitelli, our very own Supervisor, Planning and Research with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. In his first video post, Anthony takes a closer look at the numbers from a recent WRCPC publication about crossover children; “From One System to Another: Crossover Children in Waterloo Region.”
If you have more questions, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post. Or, you are welcome to give Anthony a call directly. We can be reached at 519.883.2304.
Posted on: August 13th, 2012 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
As an educator I used to dread August because of all the back to school ads. Why were we rushing summer? Now that the ads have officially begun I guess it’s time to think about how schools can advance the work of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council and its community partners in informing the public and creating momentum for keeping communities safe and thriving. I’m not proposing yet another “add-on” to an overburdened school system that is sometimes seen as the place to solve society’s ills. Schools can help, but we can’t expect teachers to carry the load regarding things like recycling, social justice, bullying, gangs and other worthwhile causes. Rather, we need to partner with them and build upon opportunities that already exist within the curriculum.
For instance, students at the secondary level often wonder about the relevance of Mathematics, frequently asking teachers “when am I ever going to use this in real life?” Here’s a thought…with the recent publication of the latest crime rate statistics from StatsCan and the media attention given to the decline in crime with some notable exceptions, why is there still a significant proportion of the population worried about crime? How can the rates of crime and their severity be graphed? What can explain the differences in regions? How can we compare them visually? Can we broaden the discussion through an interdisciplinary approach with History, Sociology or Philosophy classes working with Math classes to analyze data and formulate possible interventions that may be less costly than incarceration? What are the costs of incarceration vs early intervention? Can these be graphed? What about the rate of recidivism for certain crimes? Using the interdisciplinary approach, teachers from diverse subject areas work together to create a seamless and timely approach to learning using current events and materials. Guest speakers could also be brought in and debates staged so that students begin to develop a deeper awareness not only of the issues, but the use of language to effectively message a position.
Single discipline courses like History, Philosophy and Sociology offer several opportunities to discuss social and government policy that can be related to issues of crime prevention such as corrections, roots of crime, gangs, sentencing and the political responses to fear of crime. Not only will students better appreciate the complexity of these issues related to the core curriculum they must cover, but they will have the added benefit of becoming better informed voters. Teachers can devote a few minutes at the beginning of the day or each class to discuss current events. Technology exists to bring up online versions of major newspapers or other media outlets so that students who don’t have access to a daily paper or device can view breaking news. A few minutes each week, if not every day, will add variety to the lesson and engage students by helping them see the relevance of their learning. As a History teacher, students used to revel in getting me ‘off topic’ but to a History teacher who sees History as the totality of human experience, he/she can easily tie events together with the current day’s lesson.
Many schools already partner with local agencies in offering programs on emotions management, anti-bullying, roots of empathy, what some might call “soft skills”. Emotional self-regulation and awareness of our actions, along with an understanding of the adolescent brain help students appreciate the gifts and challenges this age brings. Youth crime can often be attributed to a lack of emotional management directly attributed to their still developing brains. How else to explain the phenomenon of ‘sexting” where young people send sexually explicit images of themselves, unaware that once out “there” they can be forwarded to others, making this a criminal offence? Not only that, but photos of this type never really disappear and may come back to haunt the young (or even older person, Anthony Weiner for example). Working with police and other agencies students themselves can take the lead in educating their peers about the dangers and consequences of the dark side of social media. Online bullying is yet another example and schools can play a role in reducing the rate of these occurrences.
Schools offer several occasions for healthy choices in terms of teams, arts, volunteer activities, social justice initiatives and so on. These help fill the void of boredom that can be a precursor to criminal activity.
There are several more avenues for schools and crime prevention networks to work together to create safe and caring communities. But, it’s can’t be up to schools alone. What can you do to help?
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.
Guest blog post from Fanis Juma Radstake
In response to the July Toronto shootings, it was reported that the Toronto Police Chief, the Ontario Premier and the Toronto Mayor held a meeting that resulted in a decision to continue to fund an increased police presence in Toronto neighbourhoods that are affected by youth violence. This will be done by securing ongoing funding for the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS). In March of 2012, it was reported in the Toronto Star that TAVIS, a program created by Toronto Police Chief Blair, operates by “targeting violent areas with officers who stop, question and document at a higher rate than regular officers”. The same report also revealed that “in each of the city’s 72 patrol zones, blacks are more likely than whites to be stopped and carded. The likelihood increases in areas that are predominantly white”. TAVIS will continue to receive $5 million per year for the deployment of police into the poor Toronto neighbourhoods affected by crime. While reading these reports, I can’t help but question what fraction of those dollars could be effective in providing mental health support, educational support or youth employment opportunities in urban immigrant communities. It still leaves me with a questions that lingers: Who says that what our beautiful children need is more police?
As an African immigrant mother with a young black son and community organizer working with the African Canadian Association of Waterloo Region and Area, I am concerned about the disproportionate rate of African youth incarceration that we are experiencing in our community and in neighbouring Ontario urban immigrant communities. In rural Ontario and in white suburban neighborhoods a youth is far less likely to become system involved than a visible minority youth in the city even if they commit the same crime. We know that teenagers who become involved in the correction system at an early age instead of receiving education and employment supports, addictions and/or mental health services and other tangible opportunities for success are more likely to commit a violent crime in the future. We also know that children and youth in low-income urban communities where most of our African immigrant communities reside are less likely to have access to the same educational opportunities and social supports as youth living in middle-income suburbs, and rural communities. As community leaders we are able recognize that our elected officials and public servants have weighty responsibilities while responding to incidences of youth violence in affected neighbourhoods. But we do want to see a balanced approach that recognizes the value of investing in protective factors that increase chances of wellness and success for ALL youth.
We need to support existing community-led early intervention programming that work; homework support programs, green collar summer jobs for youth, cultural-based community and family services and neighbourhood based youth centres. These efforts are often self-led by affected urban immigrant communities who are trying to support their children and youth. The Somali community is working so hard in Toronto with very little resources to engage their youth after school. The same kind of community-led efforts are being made in other Ontario urban centers including the Waterloo Region. Some of these programs can serve up to 100+ children on a school evening and run on as little as $5,000 to $10,000 dollars per year per site. Also in the Waterloo Region, the African Community Wellness Initiative has worked with community partners and on minimal resources to develop four community garden sites with the intent of creating employment opportunities for our youth.
No child is born with a propensity to commit crime. Research has shown that “the positive growth and adaptation of newcomer youth are dependent on the personal, social, and economic resources available to the individual, as well as to his or her family and community” (To Build Hope: Overcoming the Challenges Facing Newcomer Youth At-Risk in Ontario, Kilbride & Anisef, 2001). I believe that we need to invest more intentionally in the personal, social and economic well-being of young people to prevent youth crime and violence. Parents and cultural leaders from affected communities take seriously the needs of our families and youth and we are working hard to re-create the supportive networks that are interrupted during the settlement process. As community leaders, we are not asking or waiting for handouts, we seek and develop our own solutions for the protection and safety of our youth; and we almost always do so with very minimal resources. As June Jordan wrote in her 1956 Poem to South African Women; “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for”!
This is a mobilizing call for the voices of Ontario mothers of immigrant youth from affected communities; we need to rally in support for wellness promoting community efforts and the protection of our youth. We also call on our allies from all sectors to join in the conversation and gain an understanding of the proven alternative approaches to preventing youth violence in our cities. If this concerns you and you want more information on how to join, support or start a local mobilization for the protection of immigrant youth in your Ontario city, connect with us.
Fanis Juma Radstake is an African born immigrant and mother living in the Waterloo Region. She is also a community organizer with the African Community Wellness Initiative that seeks to increase immigrant participation in promoting community wellness. Currently Fanis is involved in promoting urban agriculture opportunities for immigrant youth in the Waterloo Region through Young City Growers. Fanis can be contacted via the African Canadian Association of Waterloo Region.
This article reflects the writer’s own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.
