Community Safety and Well-Being Planning (CSWBP) Bruce-Grey is recruiting participants for an action table focusing on crime prevention. This will bring together interested members of the public with representatives from local police services, municipalities, businesses, educational organizations, and other community agencies. The focus will be on crime prevention through social development by identifying opportunities for increased awareness, education, and engagement with the public concerning the risk and protective factors related to crime.
Members of this action table will work towards educating the public by addressing misconceptions related to crime and social disorder and providing evidence-based information relating to how we understand perceptions of safety, with the goal of sustaining safe communities across our region. Together, they will promote collaborative approaches to enhance planning and preventative strategies to community safety.
What is Community Safety and Well-Being Planning (CSWBP) Bruce-Grey?
CSWBP promotes an evidence-based, research-driven approach to reducing crime by focusing on factors that impact safety and well-being before crime occurs. As a collaborative venture, the CSWBP Advisory Committee is comprised of representatives from lower-tier municipalities, the counties of Bruce and Grey, police services and police service boards, boards of education, and education, health and social services agencies and community partners. CSWBP provides a model for cross-section collaboration and coordination that focuses on crime prevention by investing in social development, prevention and risk intervention in order to reduce the need for acute incident responses.
Why is CSWBP establishing a Crime Prevention Action Table?
In Phase 2 of CSWBP, action tables are being identified to address five priority areas – including crime prevention – that have been determined to be of greatest concern. Action tables focus primarily on social development and prevention as we work together to create and sustain safer communities throughout Grey-Bruce. Action tables will respond to issues that fall within the purview of each priority area by implementing an action plan that will identify and track measurable indicators, progress, and outcomes. Issues addressed through action tables will require a broad, system-level response and will bring together community partners and individuals who are interested in collaborative responses to actionable, evidence-informed issues impacting safety and well-being.
In the community engagement survey that informed the initial phase of CSWBP, crime prevention was identified as an area of priority, ranking third overall, and in the top three areas of importance by 44% of survey respondents (Bruce County 42%, Grey County 46%). When asked which areas were of particular concern in this category, break and enter, drug trafficking and theft were the top concerns, followed by intimate partner or domestic violence and human trafficking. Members of the crime prevention action table will address these and other aspects of crime prevention through research, education and public outreach, and will work towards collaborative strategies that focus on improving safety and perceptions of safety in our communities.
How can I become involved?
If you are interested in contributing your enthusiasm, skills, and knowledge to promote a broader understanding of crime prevention that supports Bruce-Grey communities as safe and welcoming communities, please contact Sarah Pelton at spelton@brucecounty.on.ca to learn more and request an application form.
For more information about CSWBP Bruce-Grey, please visit: cswbp-brucegrey.ca
