Click HERE for the results of the residential and business surveys
 

Below are the results of the break-out sessions from the Community Forum held in May 2005

BUSINESS ISSUES

• Repeated Offences
• Storage of Stolen Items in Remote/Rural Areas
• Importance of Community Watch
• Petty Destructive Behavior

PREVENTION/ACTIVITIES

• Security Systems
• Lighting
• Community Awareness
• Guard Dogs
• Don’t Advertise that you have anything Valuable on Site
• Have good relationships with Citizens in the Community (keep lines of Communication open)
• Keep those in your Community Aware of any Suspicious Activity and ask for their Co-operation
• Promote Cap Program at Place of Business

YOUTH ISSUES

• Young children staying alone (4-8 Years)
• Drugs
• Bullying
• 1 Police Officer in Elementary Schools
• Lack of Education on Bullying (Mandatory Programs)
• Lack of respect. Lack of basic parenting skills
• Lack of activity

PREVENTION/ACTIVITIES

• Service groups willing to offer/host after – school programs/hand-out/activities
• Grandparents volunteering (seniors)
• Department of Agriculture promote youth programs
• Drug: Alcohol education in elementary (Curtis Bell – football player) schools have to hire him
• Get Health Dept to come into Elementary Schools, on drugs & alcohol
• Police mentioned would like a “Truancy Program”
• Parents Monitor internet activities
• In-School Suspension

RURAL ISSUES

• Property Crime – Head Officers assigned for longer periods (longer than 1 year)
• Personal Crime – Vulnerable for B&E
• Police presence needed permanently in Waterdown as growth
  occurs
• Need more police officers on duty
• Traffic needs – Campbellville Rd., Carlisle Rd
• Police Service available – TARGET Hardening
• Be more alert as citizens
• Need more personal surveillance of property & schools
• Report suspicious happenings to Crime Stoppers

SENIOR’S ISSUES

• Trusting
• Vulnerability
• Reforms to Youth Criminal Justice Act
• Accountability for acts of youth to parents
• Need to address issues of respect (other people, property, etc.)
• Better communication
• Need for better education
• Better awareness of issues of senior’s abuse
• How to get past a fear of technology (computers, cell phones, etc.)
• Get past the tag “busybody”
• Shouldn’t be a stigma attached

PREVENTION/ACTIVITIES

• FICS (Flamborough Information & Community Services) can help with info. & classes
• Contact Mountain Police station. They have a seniors officer
• Seek out education from local colleges and classes
• Should call the police/neighbours with concerns/information

 "Bringing Back the Power to Your Community"

FLAMBOROUGH COMMUNITY FORUM SUMMARY
 

Below is a summary from our Community Forum that was held on Saturday morning, May 7^th 2005

We had lots of police representation and our guest speaker Dr. Hugh Russell, Ph.D., Community Justice Consultant.  First up was Shelley Scott, Director of FICS (Flamborough Information & Community Services) and Project Manager of CAP (Crime Activity Prevention).  Shelley gave everyone a rundown of the CAP program, its purpose and longevity.  Shelley stated the following;

·        CAP got its funding from the National Crime Prevention Strategy through FICS applying for that grant.

·        CAP are going to be the facilitators of the program and need the community’s help and support in making crime prevention a success in Flamborough.

·        CAP will focus on grass-roots initiatives for the program as “just putting the bad guys in jail” won’t solve the problem.  We need to approach crime prevention through social development.  Small group or individual initiatives and keep it in the community for the community.  Flamborough could be a model to other rural communities.

·        Everyone will break up into small groups for our Break-out sessions on four key areas; seniors issues, youth issues, business issues and rural issues will be collected and compiled and posted on the CAP website.

Karen Brown, Project Coordinator for CAP talked about the survey results (which will also be posted on the website) and the “flavour” of the community.  She stated the following;

·        Majority of survey results indicated the perception is that those committing the crimes were in the age range of 11-20 years old.  Many surveys complained of slow response times by police and lack of police visibility.  Majority of survey results stated the lack of parenting skills, lack of family connectedness, respect, compassion, volunteerism and parents not knowing what their kids are doing and where they are.  Comments were also made about “latch-key” kids at a young age.

·        Feedback from majority of school principals have been unanimous on the parenting issues.  Lack of basic parenting skills for their children, lacking in social skills, respect, etc.

·        CAP will launch a Parenting program (enhancing  & supporting parenting) which will be for Early Years (0-5 yrs.) and for parents of pre-teens and teens, starting in September 2005 through 2007 and will offer the programs throughout Flamborough.  It will be offered to schools, churches, service groups, etc.  Anyone who would like to host the program, it will be available, they just have to call the CAP office.  These programs will be free of charge.  The program will focus on supporting parents and enhancing parenting skills with tools to deal with anger management, stress, bullying, “8 worst things parents can do”, etc.  Common sense tips and ideas.  It will be a format for parents to share tips and suggestions amongst each other and not feel that they are alone in their struggles.

·        Not all Flamborough schools were receptive to CAP.  separate and private schools did not respond to the CAP program.

·        CAP will also partner with the Red Cross on their RespectEd program for children and teens which is for violence abuse and prevention.

·        Karen also focused on working collaboratively with individuals and businesses in the community to make the program work.

·        Karen will take break-out session information and put it together and post it on website and Flamborough Review

With lots of police representation, including Police Superintendent Terry Sullivan, who presented a number of statistics for the Flamborough area and asnwered many questions from the audience which dispelled many myths on what is actually happening in Flamborough.  Here is his presentation summarized;

·        Terry confirmed the age group charged with the most crimes is 10-25 year olds.

·        There are two officers in the division whose sole responsibility are the schools.

·        From audience questions, he discussed that what we read in the newspaper about “victimization and B&E, etc” is not the whole picture.  The police have a lot more information that is not published.  Home invasions, daytime robberies, etc. do not happen at random like the newspapers intimate, but the perpetrators in fact, do know the occupants of the home in some manner.   Flamborough’s crime is decreasing.  The perception is that it is on the rise.

·        Rundown of crime; 770 cars were stolen in this division in 2004 – 14-20 year olds stealing for joyriding.  998 thefts from vehicles in 2004; 185 DUI’s in 2004 compared to 192 in 2003; 1,267 Domestic Violence in 2004 compared to 1,032 in 2003; 805 incidents classified as “Family Troubles” in 2004 compared to 808 in 2003; 1,186 B&E’s in 2004 compared to 1,230 in 2003; 97 robberies in 2004 compared to 110 in 2003.

·        There is a team of 12 plain clothes officers and 4 officers from HEAT squad doing undercover surveillance to catch criminals responsible for theft from the local schools and libraries (in response to the recent rash of break-ins).

·        He talked about the SAFE (summer program to catch youth/adults hanging out in parks, remote areas doing drugs/alcohol, etc) and BEAR, the Break and Enter unit.

·        Superintendent Sullivan said the majority of the thefts are drug related.

·        41% of students at Waterdown District High School have tried/do use marijuana and 12% cocaine

·        He said that residence SHOULD report EVERYTHING they see going on in the community to police, even if the police cannot respond to the incident, it helps them track what is happening and often it is related to other crimes.  When people do not call police, police are limited in what they can do and often hinders their investigations.  They cannot always continue to contact individual residence and share information but wants the public to know that they do investigate.  The information they cannot share will relate to other crimes but the public will not know that.

·        The police need feedback from the community on problems areas so contact the Waterdown community policing centre (905-689-1554).

·        Use CAP as a resource to connect and partner with Hamilton Police Services.  Terry said that we need to work together as one unit to continue the decline in crime and criminal activity or potential criminal activity in Flamborough.  His officers will do everything in their power to assist us as a community to accomplish this goal.

Dr. Hugh Russell took many notes from the community forum and brought some thoughts together for us to work on as a “mobilized community”.

·        50% of crime is from 10% of the criminals which are repeat offenders.

·        Shortening response time does NOT decrease victimization (this was in response to questions to Terry Sullivan on whether shorter response times would deter criminals from stealing, etc.).  Hugh said criminals do not make their decisions based on logic, they are driven by emotional needs not reason.

·        He has worked with many communities on grass-roots initiatives to decrease crime, and says that when dealing with youth issues, the problems can only be solved if the school, teachers, principals, administrative staff, parents, kids and police work together.  If one of these parties is hesitant to participate, have the police contact the school principal and set up a meeting.  CAP may be able to assist with this.

·        Parents are often lacking the skills to pick-up on substance abuse for example and often are naïve about their children saying “no, not my Johnnie”.

·        Crime is caused by social situations and dynamics.  In towns like Waterdown where we have experienced large growth, we have people who have lived here forever and newcomers to town  who have different viewpoints on “small town or community”.  Lifer’s most often know their neighbours and make a point of getting to know them, where newcomers do not do that.  They frequently have long commutes to work leaving them stressed by the time they get home and not a lot of time to socialize or get to know their neighbours.  Often parents leave their children without supervision for extended periods of time figuring they are old enough, or “I trust my child”, etc.  Unstructured time like this is a breeding group for getting into trouble.  Parents often feel guilty about leaving their children and to often give in to demands, or give their young teen a car to get around or never eat together as a family because of activities, etc.  Kids that steal cars often want attention and they get it from their peers because they are not getting it at home.  All relates to a family breakdown that needs to be addressed.

·        Crime can be prevented in formative years by developing/enhancing parenting skills.

·        Really focus on community mobilizing together.

The session ended with Shelley asking everyone to leave their name, phone number, if they had a business in town, e-mail address with some detail, such as your profession, what you are good at, your interests, passions, talents and gifts.  We want to know how we can work with or connect you.

If you attended the forum, it is our hope that you enjoyed the morning and got something out of it.  If you did not attend the forum, this summary will give you a good idea of what was discussed.  Please feel free to contact myself or Shelley Scott at the CAP office for any information, details or questions you might have.  We want to work with you in making our community the safest and most positive community to live in.

 
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