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Dear Participants,
As I had promised following
the Safety Forum, please find enclosed a summary
of solutions that were proposed, intended action,
and possible evaluation.
The idea behind the Forum was
to find solutions to issues that residents in
the community felt needed to be addressed with
an aim to increasing safety and reducing crime,
particularly youth crime, in Kanata.
I appreciate your commitment
to keep Kanata safe, and thank you for your
participation. I would also like to thank city
staff, the police, and community partners for
their contribution and continued efforts that
make Kanata a great place to live.
Sincerely,
Peggy
The day began
with registration and an Open House session.
Members of the community had the opportunity
to mingle with City Staff, Community Partners,
and Police, and obtain information, ask questions,
and discuss issues relating to community safety
prior to the auditorium portion of the Community
Forum. City of Ottawa Staff were present from
the following departments: Ottawa Police Services,
Traffic Safety, Sidewalk Safety, Community Street
Lighting, By-law Services, OC Transpo, and Corporate
Security. Our Community Partners included Neighbourhood
Watch, Police Volunteers, the Kanata Community
Safety Partnership, and the Western Ottawa Community
Resource Centre.
Following the
Open House portion, residents identified the
problems/issues they wanted to have addressed
throughout the day. The issues were broken down
into three main categories: Vandalism, Traffic
Safety, and Police Resources. These issues were
listed on flip charts, which were later used
in group discussion
Participants
then joined small group workshops based on their
own interest, accompanied by City Staff, Community
Partners, and Police, in order to come up with
solutions to some of the problems/issues that
had been identified. At the end of the small
group workshops, all three groups returned to
the auditorium for a wrap-up.
Councillor
Feltmate wrapped-up the event by committing
to follow-up with Residents and City Staff based
on the proposed solutions. The table below outlines
solutions that were proposed as a result of
discussion generated in the small groups, with
end notes following the chart for more description.
Vandalism/Youth
| Issue |
Solution/Suggestion |
Action |
Evaluation |
Drug Activity
|
How to Drug-proof Your Kids Program1
|
Public Education Needed to bring more
focus to this program |
Enrolment in Drug-proofing program up |
Vandalism
|
1.) OC Transpo acting as form of “dispatch”
through Transecure Program2
2.) Get neighbours involved (being proactive)
canvassing neighbourhood near parks –
and talk to five homes3
3.) New 3-1-1 Line for by-law infractions
- In 2004, only 30 calls for service to
by-law through general number for park-related
disturbances by-law officers are equipped
to deal with4
4.) Engaging Businesses to distribute info
about services like 3-1-1 and Neighbourhood
Watch (NHW)5
|
1.) Public Education that Transecure
program exists
2.) Recruit for Neighbourhood Watch (NHW)
specifically near parks
3.) Councillor’s Column in Kourier-Standard
and EMC
4.) Refer to Kanata Community Safety Partnership
(KCSP) for action
|
1.) Report on use of Transecure
2.) Increase in participants in NHW
3.) Higher call volume for By-law incidents
through City Line for park-related problems
4.) Call volumes up, and increase in participation
|
Park Activity
|
1.) Safety Audit/tree trimming6
2.) Youth On The Move
|
1.) Refer to By-law Services and Police
2.) Recruit from School Councils
3.) Refer to Parent Councils and School
Administrations
|
1.) Reduced number of calls for service
in areas where Safety Audits were conducted
2.) Increase in number of Peer Groups
involved in Youth On The Move program |
Park Lighting
|
Motion sensors for problem park areas
where youths gather7
|
Refer to Corporate Security
|
Case Study of motion detector lighting
proposal in problem-area parks, using police
crime statistics to select test area |
Lawn Lighting
|
Ensuring Neighbours replace burnt out
bulbs, though Neighbourhood Watch7 |
Neighbours helping Neighbours; talking
to one another |
Report from NHW
|
Parental Responsibility
|
1.) Charges vs. Warnings; more Public
Education needed8
2.) Parents talking to kids and to kids
in neighbourhood who aren’t necessarily
their own
|
1.) More sweeps through parks similar
to Tequila Sunrise operation from June 2005
2.) Refer to MPP’s Office - Province
needs to act on moving age from 16 to 17
where charges can be laid against parents
when unsupervised youths out after midnight.
Residents need to make Provincial Government
aware of this issue
3.) Refer to NHW
4.) Reporting information to School Resource
Officer |
|
Engage Students
/ Educating Younger Kids Early
|
1.) Kanata Community Safety Partnership
>> School Boards >> School
Administrations >> Teachers >>
Student Councils >> Students9
2.) Holding discussions, and use of schools
as a resource tool for sending information
home to parents of younger children
|
1.) Opportunity for School Board to become
more involved in ensuring schools and the
City are working together to tackle youth
crime early
2.) Involve CRC’s Youth Crime Prevention
Community Education Program
3.) Encourage School Councils to create
a Youth Crime Committee where students can
participate in reducing vandalism and youth
crime in their own communities |
Refer to KCSP, CRC and School Board
|
Traffic Safety
| Issue |
Solution/Suggestion |
Action |
Evaluation |
Speeding
|
1.) Speed humps10
2.) Radar monitoring and results10
3.) Signs warning motorists of resident-type
in area (ex: seniors, children)10
4.) People need to report problems11
|
1.) Refer to Traffic Operations Branch
2.) Budget Consultations (issue with speed
humps is there is a backlog for traffic
studies)
|
Does the Community support added funding
for Traffic Safety in the 2006 City Budget?
|
Traffic/Sidewalk Safety
|
1.) A bus stop located near Walmart/Loblaws
so people don’t have to walk across
the Centrum parking lot12
2.) Give traffic staff the ability to
provide input on location and design of
sidewalks and pedestrian routes on private
property such as malls and apartment
3.) Planners working on proposals must
walk the proposed pedestrian routes
|
1.) Refer to OC Transpo
2.) Refer to Planning Staff for follow-up
on previous job to ensure their vision
is working effectively
|
1.) Bus Stop installed
2.) Improvements at Centrum
|
Winter Maintenance
Standards
|
People want more snow clearing of sidewalks
|
Budget Consultations
|
Community Feedback to Councillor’s
Office
|
Police Resources
| Issue |
Solution/Suggestion |
Action |
Evaluation |
Police Resources/Response
|
1.) Need more police for Kanata13
2.) Assign Officers specifically for Youth
Crime
3.) School Resource Officer14
|
Advocate to Police Services Board to monitor
placement of additional officers for Kanata
|
Documented increase in Police presence
in Kanata following 2006 Budget
|
Volunteering and Police
|
People want to volunteer, they only
need to be asked
|
Allow more volunteers (Union pressure
reduced number of volunteers from 40 to
about 7) |
Increase in number of Police volunteers
|
Rejuvenation of Volunteers
|
Some have been involved for very long
time – we need more/new people getting
involved15
|
1.) Refer to Police to Recruit New Members
for NHW
2.) Opportunity for KCSP to partner with
Welcome Wagon or other resources to attract
new community members
|
1.) Increase in number of NHW members
and
2.) Increase in number of KCSP volunteers
|
| Punishment Fitting the Crime |
Restorative Justice Model;16
Mandatory Cessation Program Model17 |
Refer to KCSP for discussion |
|
1.
Drug activity:
Program – How to Drug-proof Your Kids
– only 12 parents registered indicates
not enough public education about this program
return to chart
2. OC drivers
acting as dispatch: “Community
Watch Program on Wheels” – community
education needed; people don’t know about
this (http://www.octranspo.com/security_menuE.htm)
return to chart
3. Neighbourhoods
Getting Involved: a) story of group
late at night; next day, damage done to park;
feeling that could have prevented by being proactive;
stop waiting for someone else to fix the problem
– report suspicious activity; b) story
of dealing with neighbour’s garbage while
away; c) when damage done to property/neighbourhood,
cleaning immediately removes reminder that they
got away with it and that “someone knows
what they did” – leaves possible
feeling that “maybe someone is watching”
d) canvass neighbourhoods near parks and talk
to five households that border parks –
people only get involved once they’ve
become victimized; encouraging neighbours to
keep an eye out, talking to kids on streets,
create a phone list in community to notify other
neighbours
return to chart
4.
The Effectiveness of By-law
Services: (3-1-1 / 580-2400) –
it was indicated that only 30 calls for service
in 2004 relating to park activity were received
through the general line for the City of Ottawa
– tells us not nearly enough people understand
that calling by-law for park incidents may be
faster than calling police to deal with a problem
by-law are equipped to deal with; more public
education needed about registering complaints
with By-law Services
return
to chart
5. Engage Business
Community: grocery stores and doctor’s
offices (places where people have to go) to
get messaging out in community since Media is
not a medium where pertinent information is
necessarily being picked up; the theme of this
suggestion: Engaging People in a Different Way
return to chart
6.
Park activity:
safety audit/tree trimming; Youth On The Move;
School Resource Officer (only one for all of
Kanata)
return
to chart
7. Park/Lawn Lighting:
motion sensors for problem areas where youths
hide in parks (ie: not near road); ensuring
neighbours replace burnt out bulbs;
return to chart
8. Parental Responsibility:
Charges vs. Warnings – if past 12 midnight
and kids under age 16, police able to charge
parents; if before 12 midnight or kids are above
age 16, no opportunity for charges to be laid;
Extend age from 16 – 17 (Province); how
this relates to By-law – after 11 pm if
in parks, by-law officers can ask anyone to
leave the premises – no charge option
return to chart
9. Getting School Boards
to Engage Students: is an opportunity
to ensure the schools and City are working together
to tackle problems with youth crimes in a proactive
way; a) School Teachers thinking ahead to weekend
activities – being aware of what youth
intend to do – reporting to SRO; Getting
“Good Kids” Involved – (Grad
Nights; School Councils) – What other
ways can kids make a difference?; Educating
younger kids; holding discussions – use
of the schools as a resource tool for sending
information home to the parents of younger children
return to chart
10. Speeding:
speed humps; radar monitoring and results; signs
warning people of resident-type in area (ex:
seniors, children)
return
to chart
11. Traffic/Speeding:
(General) – people need to report problems
they see as safety issues (traffic@ottawa.ca)
return to chart
12. Traffic/Sidewalk
Safety: location and design of sidewalks
must benefit both pedestrians, as well as people
traveling to and from cars; people designing
the pedestrian plan need to be walking the routes
(ex: Centrum/Walmart); improvements needed to
winter maintenance plan; placement of bus stops
– too close to intersections; dogs off
leash – more by-law enforcement needed
return to chart
13. Police Resources/Response:
West Division has 246 members, but only Six
Officers patrolling for all of Kanata; West
Division receives 31% of all calls city-wide;
Call Often; unless they are called, they are
unaware of a problem – goes toward compiling
statistics which are used in determining where
resources are needed in a community
return to chart
14. School Resource
Officer: they hear about big parties
from Kids at School
return to chart
15. Rejuvenation of
Volunteers: some have been doing it
for many years (recruit new members)
return to chart
16. Restorative Justice
approach to addressing perpetrators of Vandalism
return to chart
17. Mandatory Cessation
Program Model: Education rather than
Punishment; showing kids the negative results
of their actions – ie: take to hospitals
to show the other “un-cool” side
return to chart
Additional
notes from discussion:
Slogan: example: “Vandalism is Unacceptable”;
and pass the slogan on – talk to your
neighbours!
Partnerships: making better
use of
a) Neighbourhood Watch
b) Block Parent;
c) Youth Centres;
d) CRC;
e) Kanata Community Safety Partnership; The
problem identified with utilizing Community
Partners – when people get home from work,
they are tired, and cannot be bothered participating;
f) we need to separate Community Police Officers
from main police - easy to speak to someone
who is not wearing a uniform
Volunteering and Police: people
want to volunteer, they only need to be asked;
Comment was made that Police Union prevents
this – used to have 40 volunteers –
union pressure reduced that number to only 6
or 7
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