Section 5 – Ontario’s partners in crime prevention

Reducing crime and victimization requires localized, collaborative and comprehensive planning. In Ontario, existing programs and services intended to build safer communities are delivered by a network of partners, including government, non-profit organizations, law enforcement, and the private sector.

The causes of crime are complex and interrelated, and so must be the response. Strong partnerships, centralized planning, and alignment with other crime prevention efforts are the key drivers in realizing an effective crime prevention strategy.

Provincial government

Current government initiatives

Provincially-led strategies contributing to community well-being include:

• Ministry of Children and Youth Services – Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy;
• Ministry of Health and Long Term Care – Mental Health and Addictions Strategy;
• Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing – Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy;
• Ministry of Community and Social Services – Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy;
• Ministry of Attorney General – Victims Services Secretariat and Alternative Measures Programs; Aboriginal Justice Strategy;
• Ministry of Education – Safer Schools Strategy;
• Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs – New Approach to Aboriginal Affairs.

Other Ontario government actions include:

• Developing a Youth Policy Framework;
• Responding to the Ipperwash Inquiry and the Hate Crimes Community Working Group Report;
• Implementation of full day kindergarten and improvements to the immunization program for children and adolescents;
• Expanding the Guns and Gangs Task Force as well as the OPP-led Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit;
• Hiring more police officers, more crown attorneys, more victims services staff, and more adult probation and parole officers;
• Increases in social assistance and Ontario Child Benefit rates;
• Investing in community initiatives with a focus on youth-based crime prevention programs; and
• Targeting organized crime through focused intelligence-gathering efforts.

Further, MCSCS ensures all of Ontario’s communities are safe, supported and protected by law enforcement, and that community safety and correctional services are secure, effective and accountable. Each year the ministry leads a number of police and community-based programs that promote community safety in priority areas. Examples of programs include:

• Community Policing Partnerships (CPP) Program
• Crime Stoppers Centralized After-Hours Phone Service
• Hate Crime and Extremism Investigative Team (HCEIT)
• Provincial Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (PAVIS)
• Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet
• Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (R.I.D.E.)
• Safer Communities – 1,000 Officers Partnership Program
• Safer and Vital Communities

MCSCS supports and emphasizes holding offenders and inmates accountable in order to create healthier and safer communities. Correctional services offer rehabilitation, treatment, training, life skills and education as a way to support inmates in institutions and those under community supervision to address their offending behaviour and reduce recidivism. Addressing their offending behaviour, and assisting those who have been in institutions to integrate back into the workforce or school can have positive impacts on recidivism.

While all of these efforts support our common objective of making Ontario safer, we continue to believe that effectively fighting crime requires mobilizing and organizing within communities.

Federal government

The National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) is an integral part of the federal government’s efforts to tackle crime in order to build safer communities.

The NCPS provides a policy framework for the implementation of crime prevention interventions in Canada. It is administered by the National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC) within Public Safety Canada.

With an investment of $63 million annually, NCPC assists communities in developing projects that reduce crime by reducing the personal, social and economic factors that lead some individuals to commit criminal acts. NCPS focuses particularly on children, youth and young adults who show multiple risk factors known to be related to offending behaviour; high risk offenders in communities; and First Nation, remote and northern communities, especially those with high crime rates and persistent crime problems.

The NCPC administers three funding programs, including the Crime Prevention Action Fund (CPAF), the Northern and Aboriginal Crime Prevention Fund and the Youth Gang Prevention Fund. The Ontario Project Review Committee recommends projects for funding by a Project Review Committee (PRC) that includes representatives from the NCPC and provincial or territorial governments which are forwarded to the Department of Public Safety for final review and approval.

Municipalities

Municipalities play an important role in providing crime prevention interventions in Ontario. As the order of government closest to the public, municipalities are well positioned to work with local partners to develop effective community-based programs. They are also best able to identify local crime problems as well as the conditions that contribute to those problems. Many municipalities are well advanced in developing and delivering situational and social development crime prevention programs and practices.

First Nation communities

Many First Nation communities face unique challenges with respect to crime, violence and victimization, making it difficult to move forward in positive and rewarding ways.^{footnote 1[1]} However, some communities have experienced healing, relationship building and social and economic development. These are critical steps toward successful intervention in communities that may lack capacity to prevent crime. For example, some First Nation communities have initiated healing circle processes as a way to respond to the harms within their community.

Remedying communities at risk or in crisis requires the effective integration of personal, economic, social and political efforts that address the risk factors associated with crime and victimization. By building partnerships with those most affected all sectors will be in a better position to deliver transformative interventions that apply to Aboriginal traditions, practices and cultures.^{footnote 2[2]} Further, crime and victimization in First Nation communities does not only affect rural and remote regions. The Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres and legal organizations have a strong presence in urban communities with high percentages of Aboriginal people.

Ontario police services

Ontario is a leader in recognizing the pivotal role police services play in crime prevention. This is demonstrated through current legislative requirements under the Police Services Act, which mandates police services to provide community-based crime prevention initiatives in the areas that they serve. Ontario’s police services recognize that crime prevention is a key component of community mobilization and that strong community partnerships are an essential element of any crime prevention strategy.

Further, the OACP is a policing leader in the area of crime prevention and supports social development. A recent example is the review and revision of the Community Policing Model, originally developed in 1996. The new model defines community policing as “…the process by which police and other community members partner to improve community wellbeing, safety and security through joint problem identification, analysis, response and evaluation.”^{footnote 3[3]}

First Nations police services

First Nations Police Services encounter unique issues when dealing with crime and victimization. Adequate and culturally appropriate policing can have a positive impact in mitigating the risk factors associated with Aboriginal offending. A mandate of the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association (FNCPA) in partnership with the Aboriginal Policing Directorate at the Department of Public Safety is to continually develop strategic partnerships to complement the delivery of culturally sensitive crime prevention services

Community and non-profit organizations

The localized approach to building healthier and safer communities relies on society’s participation in mobilizing and sustaining crime prevention initiatives. To date, communities across Ontario have established strategic partnerships with non-profit organizations in order to develop and deliver comprehensive crime prevention services that respond to local needs and conditions.

To strengthen these efforts, the Ontario Trillium Foundation has granted hundreds of millions of dollars to thousands of community and non-profit organizations across the province. The Foundation’s mission is ‘building healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector, through investments in community-based initiatives’.

Private sector

In addition to recognizing the importance of involving all levels of government, law enforcement and the community, strategic efforts to prevent and reduce crime also require private sector involvement and investment. The impact of crime on private businesses and the communities in which they are located can be substantial; i.e., affecting a company’s ability to attract customers, recruiting and retaining employees, ensuring productivity, or staying in business.

Given the overall financial impacts of crime, it is clearly in the interest of the private sector to help build stronger and safer communities. The private sector can bring its creativity, skills, and resources to assist in the development of crime prevention strategies.

Academic institutions

A safe and positive learning environment is essential to help students succeed, reduce the fear and incidence of crime, and contribute to community safety and crime prevention. As part of the Ontario Safe Schools Strategy, changes are being made in existing curricula for all levels of the education system to ensure students feel safe at schools and on school grounds. These changes will assist students in making good personal choices and dealing positively with issues such as conflict resolution, bullying, inappropriate sexual behaviour, harassment and discrimination.

The Ontario government is also working with schools and communities to prevent youth violence by shifting away from an approach that is solely punitive towards progressive discipline. The new approach corrects inappropriate behaviour by providing early and ongoing intervention, involving parents sooner, and working with law enforcement, social workers, counsellors and psychologists to offer support to at-risk youth.

Post-secondary institutions such as universities, polytechnics and colleges also play an important role in crime prevention. They provide access to authoritative sources of crime prevention expertise, data, crime trends, proven examples of projects that have prevented crime, and the reasons for investing in crime prevention. By fostering a network of partners, and organizing conferences and workshops, higher academic institutions disseminate scientific knowledge and evidence-based practices and help relevant stakeholders enhance community safety in their local areas.