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Moffat calls for Community Task
Force on Vandalism
September
2, 2004, St.
Albert – With
St. Albert residents citing youth
crime, gangs and vandalism as the
most important social issues they’re
facing, one mayoral candidate suggests
the City take action by establishing
a community task force involving
local stakeholders. “We know
we have an issue. We’ve put
a curfew in place in our parks and
mayors of Alberta’s mid-sized
cities are discussing vandalism,
but experts say that collaboration
among all sectors of society is the
best way to address crime issues.
Time and again crime prevention initiatives
based on this principle have proven
to be effective,” says Lynda
Moffat. “Involving key St.
Albert stakeholders
in addressing vandalism will increase
our likelihood of success.”
Initial
contacts made by Moffat suggest
many of the possible players are
enthusiastic about this approach
and ready to sit
down together to tackle vandalism. “I got a
very positive response when I spoke
with Inspector Randy Beck at our
local RCMP detachment. Doug Campbell,
the Executive Director of the Youth
Community Centre, was very interested
and agreed that youth representatives
should be included on the Task Force.
Nancy Nelson, the founder of St.
Albert’s Citizen's Patrol Society,
agreed it’s a great idea,” reports
Moffat.
Moffat
stressed that mobilizing and engaging
a community to tackle crime is not
a new approach in Alberta or even
in St. Albert. She pointed to the
St. Albert Citizen’s
Patrol Society, which won a 2003
Alberta Solicitor General Crime Prevention
Award for their efforts, as a classic
example. “They reduced vandalism
in Grandin by 42 per cent in their
first six months. With volunteer
organizations like Citizen’s
Patrol and the experts at our local
RCMP detachment, clearly we have
the know-how right here at home to
address vandalism” stresses
Moffat. “The City has a role
to play in supporting
our professional and voluntary resources
and in bringing them together with
other stakeholders, such as youth
and our business community, to address
this city-wide issue.”
When it
comes to funding, Moffat suggests
there are both provincial and federal
funds available, saying “The
Alberta Community Crime Prevention
Grant Program comes to mind as a
potential funding source, as does
the National Crime Prevention Strategy’s
Community Mobilization Program. In
the short-term the City could be
called upon to provide some seed
funding or in-kind support to get
such a Task Force going, and since
it would address our community’s
top social issue,
such support would be well warranted.”
Contact:
Lynda
Moffat
St. Albert
Mayoralty Candidate
458-1655
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