Crime Prevention Committee Moving Ahead

The Committee met in December and hit the ground running. They will be reaching out for public input once they meet a few more times. Looking forward to their findings and suggestions.

Anti-crime committee to meet in new year
The Journal Pioneer-SUMMERSIDE – Summerside’s new committee, formed to look at crime and safety, is ready to hold public meetings in the new year.The Community Safety and Crime Prevention Advisory Committee held its inaugural meeting on Dec. 11 to get the process underway.Coun. Cory Thomas, who spearheaded the idea, said the groundwork is being put in place for public meetings in the New Year. The committee has elected Rev. Andrew Richardson president of the advisory group and will be the liaison for the group.“The advisory committee will serve as a resource, information gathering and advisory body to city council on matters pertaining to safety and the prevention of crime in the city of Summerside,” said Thomas. “Having citizen centred initiatives such as advisory committees, will provide council valuable advice on crime prevention initiatives. One component of this process will be to seek solutions and suggestions from the public in the form of focus groups.”The advisory committee reports to Summerside city council through the police services committee.Thomas said this is a “powerful committee” with experts in every area.“Council is really lucky that these people have agreed to volunteer their time to step forward to help their community,” he said. “This committee and the outreach that we do will help develop long-term solutions to the problem.”Thomas said the city is in this for the long haul. “These sorts of solutions don’t happen overnight,” he said. “Usually only Band-Aids happen over night. Solutions take time.”Thomas said the committee is not structured in such a way that it will come out with a final report. Instead it will be a living committee making changes as it goes along and could be part of the city’s social fabric for many years.“This is long-term and that’s what I’m looking at – long-term solutions,” he said. “I think it’s important. How can an organization know what’s the proper direction to take without consulting with people. This is a community driven community driven committee. The community wanted some action and council responded. We saw the need. This passed unanimously.”Committee makeupThe committee consists of four members at large; Les Chipperfield, former RCMP officer and former director of Atlantic Police Academy; lawyer George Lyle; Richardson, of Trinity United Church; and George Dalton, a youth addictions advocate and worker.Youth will have a representative on the committee in Shelly Molyneaux, a violence against women spokesperson and Holland College student. Also on the committee are Lila MacIssac-Buchanan, the executive director of the East Prince Youth Development Centre, Adam Binkley, executive director of the Summerside Boys and Girls Club, Dale Sabean, superintendent of the Western School Board, Summerside Police Chief David Poirier, Marj Montgomery, with the Salvation Army, Andy Lou Somers, the executive director of the East Prince Women’s Information Centre, Gordie Whitlock, director of Generation XX and Alan Paquet, former manager of Community Corrections for the Province of P.E.I.