There’s no cure-all out there, but a Community Safety Task Force is a good way to start looking at strategies to reduce crime and increase public safety, says Trail Coun. Sandy Santori.
“It’s an issue not unique to Trail,” he continued. “And there’s no panacea in terms of coming up with a resolve … I think the solution, or minimizing the issues that we are faced with today, is going to take an entire community effort.”
The City of Trail officially endorsed this new task force on Monday, paving the way for a 13-member board, yet to be appointed, that will provide insight to council on matters impacting community safety. Additionally, the committee will advise the city on ways to augment public safety that may also help with crime reduction.
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The aim is to have the task force up and going full steam ahead by March.
“In the meantime we will notify all the stakeholders that we will be asking to sit on the board,” explained Santori, council’s task force lead. “Many of which will be from other agencies, be it mental health and addictions, the RCMP and Citizens on Patrol.”
The group will have three seats designated for community members.
“We will be selecting those from the public at-large,” he said. “Many have already come forward and expressed an interest, which is very encouraging.”
Within their mandate, the committee has eight key functions. Those are:
• provide advice and recommendations to council on strategies to enhance public safety and to prevent and reduce crime in the community
• identify and examine issues impacting community safety, including homelessness, vagrancy, theft, vandalism, mental health and drug‐related activities
• identify root causes and contributing factors to identified social issues and determine, where practical, the measurable impacts of said social issues on the community
• provide a conduit for citizens to raise issues and concerns regarding community safety
• encourage the development and delivery of education programs to raise awareness of community safety issues and the availability of resources
• advise on strategies to address the negative impacts of real and perceived social issues locally
• identify resources available and supports necessary to assist those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and other vulnerable populations with securing suitable housing
• identify opportunities to implement Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) techniques in high‐risk areas
In addition to endorsing the task force, Trail council also gave the official thumbs up to a new Seniors Advisory Committee.
Coun. Robert Cacchioni will chair this committee, whose primary mandate is to serve in an advisory capacity on matters affecting seniors in Trail. In his absence from council this week, Mayor Lisa Pasin provided a few details.
“The population is aging and the city needs to ensure we have systems in place to evaluate changes that may need to occur to ensure the livability of the City of Trail for all community members, including our aging population,” she said. “The City of Trail engaged in evaluation of the age-friendliness of our city and has an Age Friendly Action Plan guiding document as a result, which will be used as a reference point for the committee and city to evaluate continuous improvement,” Pasin added.
“Both committees represent emerging issues that require thoughtful attention going forward.”
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