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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;
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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”.
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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 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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