This morning I helped kick off Crime Prevention Week 2008 at Toronto Police Headquarters.
Here are my remarks……..
On behalf of the Toronto Police Services Board, I want to welcome all of you to Toronto Police Headquarters as we kick off Crime Prevention Week 2008.
This year’s theme is: “Invest in Your Future: Prevent Crime” and I can think of no theme more relevant or more fundamental for us today. Our Board shares the general consensus that prevention of crime is no less important than vigorously responding to crime when it occurs. We further believe that a critical component of prevention is meaningful investment in our young people, who represent the future.
This year, the Crime Prevention Week is taking place at a time when there is, once again, heightened concern and considerable discussion about violent crime in our community. Members of the public are perturbed by the incidence of violence in our midst, such as the killing of innocent bystanders and the attacks on school premises involving young people.
It is understandable that in this context, our attention should be focused on the additional measures that may be required and the efficacy of the tools that are available to deal with these threats to public safety.
Yet, this is also the time when we need to pay equal – if not greater – attention to crime prevention. And that involves a commitment to doing everything we can to deter our future generation, namely young people, from straying into the path of violence.
Investment in young people must be a societal priority. No one institution or agency can assume that responsibility. Nor can any institution or agency avoid taking responsibility. This must be our collective priority. In this regard, our look forward to a broad debate around, and full implementation of, the McMurtry-Curling report on “The Roots of Violence.”
For our part, the Toronto Police Services Board is very much committed to investing in, and supporting, young people through a variety of programs and initiatives. We have established an Advisory Panel on Community Safety to advise the Board on issues that it should act on or advocate for to address gun violence among youth.
The Board was also an original proponent, and remains a key supporter of, the Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI). This summer youth employment program is a joint initiative of the Board and the Toronto Police Service. Funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, it has, in each of the last three years, provided well-paying and meaningful summer jobs for 100 youth from our at-risk neighbourhoods.
The Board also supports youth through its funding activities. In 2005, the Board decided to set aside a minimum of $100,000 from its Special Fund to support initiatives focussed on families, children and youth. Through this program, the Board has funded a good number of unique, progressive and powerful projects.
As well, the Board is proud to support the tremendous work that the Toronto Police Service is doing in this area, including innovative programs that are part of a larger anti-violence strategy. One shining example of this is the “Empowered Student Partnerships” program in so many of our high schools.
This unique student-led program encourages youth to plan, organize and execute anti-violence and problem-solving initiatives in their schools, in partnership with the Toronto Police Service, the school boards, the City and local community organizations.
The Toronto Police Services Board and the Toronto Police Service are working diligently in partnership with our many community partners to support our young people, and to ensure that our communities are safe and healthy for everyone. As we embark upon this year’s Crime Prevention Week, I invite every institution and all levels of government to take stock of their investments in our collective future so that, together, we can enable our young people to aspire to a life of hope rather than of crime and violence.
