The concept of urban safety rests on five principles and two conclusions:

The principles

• Safety is essential to quality city living.
• Municipal safety efforts should be two-dimensional: on a subjective level, they should address feelings of safety, and on an objective level, they should address the absence or presence of danger or threats – in short, safety.
• Ensuring safety requires the participation of most municipal services.
• The City of Quebec upholds community action in public safety.
• Neighborhood policing is a major component of urban safety; it is predicated on four principles:
                  - proximity to the public
                  - partnerships with other institutions 
                  - problem-solving approach
                  - reinforcement of preventive measures

The conclusions

• Initiatives of local organizations actively involved in safety have revealed that communities which participate in their own development, and foster a sense of belonging, contribute to enhancing feelings of safety. All parties agree that concerted efforts and communication between organizations result in more cohesive efforts, and all aim to maintain a permanent and open dialogue.
• The record of municipal efforts based on a community safety approach reveals a trend of involving citizens with public safety initiatives. Instead, the community should bring forth its own solutions supported as needed by municipal services.

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The policy may be further broken down into four parts: Background, Orientations, Implementation, and Follow-up.

Background
In this section, some of the Policy’s key points are identified, such as: the main factors threatening safety in Quebec City, including residential, auto and commercial theft or vandalism, homelessness, loitering and soliciting, violence against particular social groups, conflicts between criminal motorcycle gangs, etc.; the judicial framework enabling the municipality to intervene in public safety issues; and lastly, its stakeholders:   

·        Municipal services

·        Citizens and local organizations

·        Public-sector organizations

·        The private sector

 

The section may be subdivided into three categories: goal, direction and prevention targets. The goal of the City is to: 

• Identify a process whereby safety measures are primarily established by the residents themselves;
• Contribute to the organization of promotional and preventive activities addressing urban safety;
• Periodically  assess the quality and perception of safety among its citizens.

With respect to direction, the City proposes a strategy resting chiefly on "participation and prevention". As for prevention targets, the City underscores that safety issues and feelings of insecurity may be linked to factors involving either social, economic and physical environments or human behaviour, and often both. Such problems vary from one neighbourhood and community to the next. Therefore, it is important that each and every intervention be adapted to the circumstances of the given community. 

Implementation

The implementation of the Urban Safety Policy is based on two main precepts: 

• The adoption of a decentralized urban safety management programme encouraging the involvement and participation of the community, of local organizations and of municipal services and which takes into consideration the circumstances of each borough.
• The integration of urban safety objectives and strategies into the City’s existing policies and programmes.

To support these strategies, the City of Quebec intends to encourage citizen participation in identifying the problems undermining urban safety, in defining objectives and orientations, and in following-up on its initiatives. It will also foster greater community involvement in safety matters while ensuring the effectiveness of preventive municipal efforts. Lastly, the City will devise an Assistance and Support Programme to promote and further these efforts, projects or steps towards ensuring urban safety, to be defined by citizens themselves or by local organizations. These would deal with specific social or environmental issues affecting the community’s sense of safety.   

 

Significantly, the City proposes to create an "intra-service committee" to support the implementation, follow-up and evaluation of the Urban Safety Policy. This committee would be answerable to the general directorate and be mandated with coordinating Policy efforts and recommendations. The Advisory Committee will be entrusted with supervising Policy follow-up and evaluation.

 

"Quebec City’s Urban Safety Policy has been conceived on the premise that community involvement is essential to improving and sustaining a sense of safety and quality of life.

 

It features a multi-faceted approach to safety calling on the participation of numerous municipal services to achieve physical and social conditions conducive to secure neighborhoods. 

 

It establishes an intervention strategy focussed on participation and prevention, and proposes initiatives originating from the community itself, as well as from various new partnerships, while  remaining complementary to the City’s own safety prevention measures.