By Laragh Dooley
A new project intended to address safety concerns among Centretown residents was launched earlier this month.
“We want to inform the community of safety measures and treatment programs that are available to keep the area secure,” says Susan Love, the project co-ordinator of Taking it to the Streets. “We also want to provide a forum for residents to discuss their fears.”
Taking it to the Streets will consist of three components: a survey, a safety fair and a town hall forum.
The program includes a diverse network of 15 organizations. Victims of Violence and the Citizens’ Advisory Committee are just two groups connected to the program. All the organizations working together, allow Taking it to the Street to address the worries of the neighbourhood quite accurately, says Sharon Rosenfeldt, the founder of Victims of Violence. Rosenfeldt has been involved with victims’ rights since her son was murdered in 1981 by serial killer Clifford Olson.
First, 300 people chosen at random and living in the Centretown area will be asked to fill out a survey regarding safety concerns. Earlier this month, Taking it to the Streets held a meeting to brainstorm questions for the survey.
While the survey is not yet complete, some of the issues it is expected to address are petty crime, graffiti, traffic and the location of the parole office across from Elgin Street Public School. The surveys are expected to be administered mid to late November, says Love.
Albert Galpin, chair of the Centretown Citizen’s Advisory Committee and an advocate for neighbourhood safety, attended the brainstorming session. Galpin has also been the driving force behind relocating the parole office away from the elementary school. He says he was disappointed by the high number of people in attendance from Ottawa communities outside of Centretown.
“At the meeting, I was the only one in my group who actually lived in Centretown and who had children,” says Galpin, noting there were people from Kanata and Orleans coming up with survey questions about safety in Centretown.
“How representative a group or survey will this be if the broad views of Centretown residents are not accurately reflected in this survey?”
Rosenfeldt says that Galpin’s worries are taken very seriously by the Taking it to the Streets committee. She says everything has been up front and that there is no underlying motive. The people from outside of Centretown were invited to the meeting because they are involved and concerned about the perception of crime in Ottawa.
“I am so excited about this project because of the wide range of groups and people involved,” she says. “And everyone, including Mr. Galpin, will have a chance to review the final survey before it is handed out to the public.”
After the survey, the second component will be the community safety fair held in January. The fair is to inform Centretown residents about services available to deal with their safety concerns.
“Some examples of these services are crime prevention programs, victims’ services and offender reintegration programs,” says Love. “Bring everyone under one roof with information about services and spread the word that way.”
Love’s mother, Pat, is also involved with the Taking it to the Streets program. As a patron for Circles of Support and Accountability, a program that assists with the reintegration of high-risk sex offenders into the community, she says the safety fair may help change the community’s perception of crime.
“What people read in the paper and see on television makes for a distorted picture of crime in the neighbourhood and for the effectiveness of the programs in place,” says Pat Love. “While violent crime is going down people are still asking for harsher punishments. This fair will be very educational about the realities of crime in the neighbourhood.”
The last component, which is the town hall forum, is to engage Centretown residents in a discussion about safety issues. The issues addressed at the forum will largely be determined by the results of the survey.
The forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Feb. 7 at the Jack Purcell Community Centre.