The Neighbourhood Empowerment Team (N.E.T.) concept has played an integral role in crime reduction and prevention in Edmonton for the past eight years. As a shared project of City of Edmonton Community Services, Edmonton Police Service, The Family Centre and United Way of the Alberta Capital Region, N.E.T. teams are championed as a means of applying non-traditional policing response to very common, recurrent community issues.
A police officer and a civilian community capacity builder, supported by a youth mobilization team comprise this multi-disciplined team. N.E.T. combines the skill, expertise and perspectives of traditional law enforcement practices with innovative community development strategies.
Assigned to “at-risk” communities, as determined by escalating crime statistics and socio-economic indicators, N.E.T. teams stabilize environments; reducing and preventing crime and fear of crime. The development and execution of a "Community Action Plan,” customized to each community’s unique needs and opportunities, guides the day-to-day activity of N.E.T. teams. Community-specific policing, community mobilization and crime prevention programming are implemented over a two to four year period guided by our vision, mission and objectives.
Vision
Creating safe, vibrant, self-reliant communities.
Mission
N.E.T. teams provide a multi-disciplined approach to crime reduction and prevention in at-risk communities. Through proactive problem solving and utilization of community resources, N.E.T. teams stabilize environments and move communities toward self-reliance.
Objectives
- To reduce crime and fear of crime in areas suffering from community apathy, neighbourhood decay and diminished resource support
- To mobilize those who “live, work and play” in identified areas into taking action on community concerns by establishing resident driven/police supported crime prevention strategies
- To foster partnerships that integrate community resources; providing customized responses to root causes of crime and reducing the demand for traditional police intervention
N.E.T. Teams
Currently, there are six Neighbourhood Empowerment Teams throughout the city: