Community Safety Secretariat, City of Toronto

Community Safety Plan (2004)
City of Toronto

The City of Toronto is taking an innovative and comprehensive approach to enhancing community safety. Following a series of shooting deaths in the city, Toronto City Council in March 2004  adopted a Community Safety Plan (CSP) proposed by Mayor David Miller. The plan balances the City's enforcement efforts with a range of  prevention initiatives that focus on providing new opportunities and options for young people.

The main components of the Community Safety Plan:

-Establish a Mayor's Panel on Community Safety
-Establish a Community Safety Secretariat
-Develop neighbourhood action plans for key at-risk communities
-Direct  programs and services to the neighbourhoods most in need
-Develop new programs to combat gun use and gang involvement
-Develop new training and  employment opportunities
-Advocate  for new gun laws and regulations
-Expand the Community Crisis Response program which helps communities deal with traumatic events
-Develop and expand  community safety initiatives in all parts of the city

Guiding the implementation of the plan, is the Mayor's Panel on Community Safety. The panel is chaired by the Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry and includes the Mayor, members of Council, federal and provincial cabinet ministers, school board chairs and other community representatives.

The prime focus for the panel is finding solutions to gun-related violence and creating new opportunities for at-risk communities.  Four priority neighbourhoods have been identified to receive special resources and support: Malvern and Kingston-Galloway in Scarborough, Jane-Finch in North York and Jamestown in Etobicoke.

The City has worked with schools boards, colleges and community-based partners to create positive alternatives for young people in these neighbourhoods. The Community Safety Plan has resulted in a dozen new programs that have provided recreational, cultural and  training  opportunities for youth. A range of employment-preparation, apprenticeship and internship programs are underway.

The plan supports community capacity building and citizen engagement. Local residents are part of the process of making their communities safer. Access to community space has been increased under a pilot program launched  by the  Toronto District School Board. The Community Safety Plan has also led to  greater co-ordination of programs and services in the priority neighbourhoods  as city and community-based service providers work  together more closely.

The Community Safety Secretariat was established as City staff group to support the work of the Community Safety Panel and coordinate the implementation of the Community Safety Plan. The secretariat works with City Councillors and local residents to develop new safety initiatives and respond to violent events within communities. It  works closely with the private, public and community sectors to create new programs for youth in at-risk communities. It is also working with federal and provincial justice officials to develop diversion and alternative sentencing programs for young people in conflict with the law. In addition, the secretariat is organizing an international conference on community crisis response which will be held in Toronto in June (details).
 
For more information on the Community Safety Plan, contact:

Manjit Jheeta
Manager
Community Safety Secretariat
Community and Neighbourhood Services
Phone: 416-392-8684
www.toronto.ca/community_safety