As a fundamental component in our efforts to improve Edmonton’s livability, we continue to focus on our three strategic objectives:
- Reduced Crime & Victimization
- A Citizen-centred Police Service
- A Model of Efficiency and Effectiveness
While property crime continues to decline at unprecedented rates, violent crime is also being reduced but not at the same rate. In addition, new challenges have emerged including a marked increase in the severity of violence that we must address. In response to this challenge, we have an opportunity to introduce a new strategy for reducing violence in our city. Our analysis and efforts have identified three clear and succinct objectives:
- Reduce the severity of violence
- Reduce the frequency of violence
- Reduce the fear and perception of violence
Within these three objectives, research and experience pointed us to four primary areas of focus:
- Alcohol & Drugs;
- Weapons;
- Distressed Communities; and
- Social Disorder.
Sustainable initiatives are going to take time but we have a series of initiatives that we are introducing immediately. We have divided immediate action steps into three areas: Prevention, Intervention and Suppression.
Prevention
Three of the immediate initiatives include:
Street Safety Guide - This guide will provide vulnerable people with additional tools to stay safe
Edged Weapons - Meet with Alberta Justice to discuss options for leveraging federal criminal code legislation to address edged weapons.
Weekly Crime and Disorder Update - Providing citizens and media with regular information about crime trends and patterns that they can use to keep communities informed and safe
Intervention
Three of the immediate initiatives include:
Expanding a Family Violence, Client-Centred, Support Response Program - This program provides additional follow-up and safety plans for victims of domestic violence over and above the specialized Domestic Violence Intervention Teams currently in place.
Specialized Investigator Response - Gang and Drug Investigators respond to all firearms related incidents and other events where gang involvement is suspected. This will produce valuable criminal intelligence and increased capacity for successful prosecutions.
Community Action Team - This mobile team will be moved into distressed communities to address disorder and violence using suppression, intervention and prevention tactics with a City-wide mandate.
Suppression
Three of the immediate initiatives include:
5 x 5 x 5 Initiative - Each of our five divisions have been tasked with identifying five neighbourhoods that are experiencing enduring or emerging violent crime. They will then develop and implement five community specific strategies based on identified needs.
Violence Interdiction Units - These will be highly visible, traffic based, interdiction teams that will allow us to identify, detect and disrupt violent criminals. These will be intelligence led units deployed to distressed communities, high risk corridors and other areas that facilitate crime and disorder.
Enhanced Community Peace Officer Education - Community Peace Officer’s will receive more advanced training to recognize and report suspicious behaviours that they observe during their regular duties. This can be especially effective in addressing social disorder and increase the eyes and ears of policing.
These nine short term initiatives are a representative sample of a larger grouping of initiatives that will have solid performance measures that we will use to regularly report back to the community.
We will continually assess, adapt and improve these strategies along a continuum. Given the challenges before us, we anticipate both successes and failures. We will learn from both.