Resolution at City Council- Crime Prevention

Here is the resolution I put forward at City Council on Tuesday:

Whereas the City of Summerside saw the need to address crime and community safety and formed the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Advisory Committee;

And Whereas the Committee after many months of consultations, meetings, etc. have presented their findings and recommendations to City Council;

Be It Resolved that the City of Summerside adopts the Community Safety Audit and Planning Report presented by the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Advisory Committee,

And Be It Further Resolved that in 2010 the City of Summerside commence on the implementation of some of the recommendations contained within the report. Those recommendations that we start implementing immediately include:

1. Increase citizen engagement in crime prevention and community safety by implementing Neighborhood Safety Teams in each of the eight City Wards.
2. Provide a focal point for leadership- by appointing a staff person to coordinate and work with city departments and community groups to assess gaps in crime prevention activities within the city and send monthly reports to city council through the Chair of Summerside Police Services
3. Increase access to facilities and programs by having staff in Community Services conduct an internal audit of all programs within the department and develop a strategy to enhance access to programs and facilities for low income children and youth within our city which would include developing a policy framework on fee structures to present to council for consideration. This would also include partnering with schools and not for profit organizations to see what gaps exist in terms of recreation programming for children and youth within the City.
4. Explore and assess the potential for city by-laws to address crime prevention and community safety.
5. Council sending a letter to the Attorney General for the Province of Prince Edward Island requesting the Province assess the impacts of Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods legislation in other jurisdictions.

This bears the recommendation of the Police Services Meeting of February 1, 2010