Building Capacity in Rural Crime Prevention Community of Practice Meeting Notes and Action Items
Meeting date: February 3, 2020 Meeting location: Teleconference Meeting chairs: Jan Fox and Jean Bota Note taker: Audrey Monette
Name Community Attended Regrets Christopher Parker Town of Peace River √ Ruth McCuaig Town of Peace River √ Corinna Williams Northern Sunrise County √ Omer Moghrabi Lac La Biche County √ Clynton Brittain Lac La Biche County √ Darrell Lessmeister Lac La Biche County √ Lorin Tkachuk Lac La Biche County √ Ida Edwards Town of Athabasca √ Dwayne Rawson Athabasca County √ Gabrielle Blatz City of Wetaskiwin √ Heather Crocker City of Wetaskiwin √ Heather Leslie Village of Beiseker √ TBD Sunchild First Nation √ Jean Bota ACCPA √ Jan Fox REACH Edmonton √ Felix Munger CMNCP √ Audrey Monette CMNCP √
Discussion and decisions
1.0 WELCOME • Jean and Jan welcomed pilot site representatives. • Pilot site representatives introduced themselves
2.0 AGENDA & NOTES Approval of agenda • Agenda approved with one addition: dates for pilot site visits
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3.0 RURAL CP PROJECT
3.1 Project Update
• Audrey provided a reminder of project activities o Literature review of rural crime prevention approaches / frameworks o Development of Alberta Rural Crime Prevention Framework o Rural Crime Prevention Training o Implementation in pilot sites in Alberta
• Audrey provided a reminder of training overview o Training was held in November (Red Deer County, Alberta) o Background on community safety and crime prevention o Importance of a balance between policing approach and multi-sectoral approach o Tools to assess local issues (community consultations, data analysis, etc.)
• Current pilot sites include: o Peace River and Northern Sunrise County (joint pilot site) o Lac La Biche County, Athabasca County and Town of Athabasca (joint pilot site) o City of Wetaskiwin o Village of Beiseker o Sunchild First Nation (in the process of onboarding)
• Discussion / Questions o Suggestion to dedicate a call on advice/guidance for reaching out to Indigenous communities
Action items
✓ Audrey to send Lac La Biche a copy of the pilot site invitation letter ✓ Omer to send invitation letter to surrounding Indigenous communities
3.2 Community of Practice Needs
• Audrey provided overview of community of practice needs that were identified at training o Sharing the Community Safety and Well-Being Survey that CMNCP developed o Exploring the possibility of site visits to speak to community partners and/or council o Identify a clear tag line to communicate the project in the community. o Consider common gaps and communicate them o Identify specific deliverables for pilot sites o Celebrate small wins and have a long-term vision
Action items
✓ Pilot site representatives to contact Audrey if interested in running the survey ✓ Audrey to plan a call with representatives to discuss the survey and how to best run it ✓ Jean, Jan, and Audrey to plan visits to pilot sites in late April / May
4.0 PILOT SITE CHECK-IN
Pilot site representative had the opportunity to provide an update on where they are at in the planning process, struggles/challenges, and successes.
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Peace River / Northern Sunrise County • Met with the advisory committee • Meeting with key agencies to build the framework and raise awareness of the project • Homeless shelter is working well, but trying to identify solutions for mental health issues • Bringing K9 unit around schools to keep drugs out of the schools • Had a half-day rural crime conference which was well attended • Planning community consultations: survey with seniors, people experiencing homelessness, people with substance use disorder, youth, etc.
Lac La Biche • Met with the advisory committee & discussion on connecting with community • Developing recommendations in partnership with homelessness taskforce • Planning meetings with agencies in town – planning gap analysis • Will have a conversation regarding possibility of running CSWB survey • Will have further conversations to align planning process with Athabasca • Approved public notifications program to keep community informed of incidents • Increasingly working with local RCMP detachment on crime reduction strategies
Town of Athabasca • Currently working with some of the groups that are under SCSS • Planning on conducting community consultations • New agency in town focusing on responding to sexual assault • Have not communicated with Athabasca County so far
Wetaskiwin • Recently allocated money to go towards emergency shelter (very busy) • Increasingly working with Indigenous communities • Started process of asset mapping (what do we have, what is missing?) • Jean and Jan visited – discussions on making contacts, Chad Nilson to give ideas
Beiseker • Conversations have been happening with key stakeholders in the community • Planning meeting on February 10th to discuss the project and start process • Current goal is to ensure that community understands the process and buy-in
5.0 OTHER
5.1 Pilot site membership in CMNCP
• CMNCP is a community of practice to build capacity and mobilize Canadian communities to prevent and reduce crime and foster CSWB. • CMNCP offering free membership to each pilot site until the end of the project • Requires application letter signed by the mayor
Action items ✓ Pilot site representatives to reach out to Audrey or Felix for membership ✓ Audrey to share example application letter
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5.2 Meeting at FCM • Jean and Jan are working on planning a meeting with Bill Blair (Minister of Public Safety) during the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Annual Conference • Goal of the meeting is to present idea of national strategy for rural crime prevention • The Mayor of Wetaskiwin is interested in joining. Jean wondering if others interested • Peace River and Lac La Biche interested in attending.
Action items ✓ Jean to keep everyone in the loop regarding meeting and identify attendees
6.0 NEXT STEPS AND WRAP UP
• Next COP meeting will be in March (Audrey to send invite)
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