… reducing and preventing crime and fear of crime, mobilizing those who live, work and play in the community, and collaborating with stakeholders to build sustainable solutions. N.E.T. is a partnership with: City of Edmonton Community Services, Edmonton Police Service, The Family Centre, and United Way of the Alberta Capital Region.
Strong communities and shared responsibility for crime prevention are at the foundation of the Neighbourhood Empowerment Team (N.E.T.) program. Teams work with residents, businesses and organizations, building sustainable solutions to crime and disorder. N.E.T. promotes and supports participation in crime prevention activities, building on strengths that exist in all communities.
A typical N.E.T. team is made up of a City of Edmonton Community Capacity Builder, an Edmonton Police Service Constable and a Youth Capacity Builder from The Family Centre, offering a diverse mix of social, policing and youth services to the community.
Currently, N.E.T. teams are deployed in eight Edmonton neighbourhoods: Calder, 118th Avenue, Inglewood, Callingwood South, Bonnie Doon, Southwood, McCauley and Central McDougall. The teams in McCauley and Central McDougall are Violence Reduction Teams, and have been deployed recently as part of the City’s Violence Reduction Action Plan.
View a list of N.E.T. contacts in your neighbourhood.
Some of the work that N.E.T. does with the community includes:
- Auto safety campaigns
- Home and apartment safety
- Park watches/patrols
- Anti-bullying programming
- Traffic safety initiatives
- Graffiti removal/cleanup events
- Community beautification projects
- Community spirit events
- Crime councils/safety groups
- Youth programming
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Neighbourhood Empowerment Violence Reduction Teams
In August 2011, the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Police Service and REACH Edmonton announced a Violence Reduction Action Plan. This plan is focused on reducing the severity and frequency of violence, reducing the conditions of social disorder and better addressing the needs of distressed communities.
A key component of the strategy is the deployment of C.A.T. (Community Action Team), often followed by the introduction of a specialized Neighbourhood Empowerment Violence Reduction Team (VRT) into neighbourhoods identified as having on-going, severe incidents of violent crime.
VRTs work with a community for a period of about four months following the C.A.T. campaign to further investigate the conditions that lead to chronic crime and social disorder. The VRT collaborates with the community to identify and implement ways to reduce and prevent crime from recurring. These teams are made up of a City of Edmonton N.E.T. Social Worker and an Edmonton Police Service N.E.T. Constable.
Stay connected to the Violence Reduction Teams by reading social worker Kris Andreychuk's blog, or follow Cst. de Zoeten (@CstDZoeten) and Cst. Lee (Cst_Lee) on Twitter.