Latest news with #CrimePrevention
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
New community policing centre opens in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
A new Vancouver community policing centre is opening in Gastown and Hastings Crossing in partnership with the city and the police department. The Gastown-Hastings Crossing Community Policing Centre (GHX CPC) will offer various crime prevention and outreach programs, including safety education, crime reporting, and initiatives such as community clean-ups, graffiti paint-overs, and neighbourhood safety walks. "Community policing centres aren't traditional police stations," Mayor Ken Sim said at a news conference on Wednesday. "They're not just about enforcement, they're about people. They're about building trust, strengthening relationships, and creating safer communities from the ground up." Sim said the opening of the new community policing centre at 109 West Hastings St. is a direct response to businesses wanting to feel safer in their community. He said the centre will be a community safety hub where people can ask questions, report concerns and learn about resources. The centre will host front-line police officers for engagement but will be primarily staffed by trained volunteers and civilian staff, according to its website. Vancouver Police Chief Constable Steve Rai said the community policing centre is "definitely needed" in the neighbourhood because of its crime rate. He said the Downtown Eastside accounts for about 30 per cent of all violent crime in Vancouver, but is only about two per cent of the city's geographic area. Rai said his experience working at the Davie Street community policing centre was the most rewarding assignment in his career. "It was because we were able to talk to people at the ground level to help fix those little problems before they become problems … where you're calling 911." The Gastown-Hastings Crossing Community Policing Centre will be run by an independent non-profit society staffed and governed by community members working in partnership with the VPD. Sandra Singh, deputy city manager, said the city spends about a "couple hundred thousand dollars" a year on community policing centres, and estimated the GHX CPC would cost a little bit more due to its larger size. She noted the goal will be to have the centre open seven days a week and expand the centre and its hours as it grows. The province gave a one-time $1-million contribution toward the development of the centre. Landon Hoyt, executive director of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association, said the new centre is one way to move toward a more community-focused approach to safety. He noted it will be more than a hub for policing. "It provides a drop-in centre, a stop-over space for our safety patrols, Gastown safety patrols, the EMS bike patrols, things like that." "It's really a place to better co-ordinate these safety approaches in the neighbourhood."
CBC
3 days ago
- CBC
New community policing centre opens in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
A new Vancouver community policing centre is opening in Gastown and Hastings Crossing in partnership with the city and the police department. The Gastown-Hastings Crossing Community Policing Centre (GHX CPC) will offer various crime prevention and outreach programs, including safety education, crime reporting, and initiatives such as community clean-ups, graffiti paint-overs, and neighbourhood safety walks. "Community policing centres aren't traditional police stations," Mayor Ken Sim said at a news conference on Wednesday. "They're not just about enforcement, they're about people. They're about building trust, strengthening relationships, and creating safer communities from the ground up." Sim said the opening of the new community policing centre at 109 West Hastings St. is a direct response to businesses wanting to feel safer in their community. He said the centre will be a community safety hub where people can ask questions, report concerns and learn about resources. The centre will host front-line police officers for engagement but will be primarily staffed by trained volunteers and civilian staff, according to its website. Vancouver Police Chief Constable Steve Rai said the community policing centre is "definitely needed" in the neighbourhood because of its crime rate. He said the Downtown Eastside accounts for about 30 per cent of all violent crime in Vancouver, but is only about two per cent of the city's geographic area. Rai said his experience working at the Davie Street community policing centre was the most rewarding assignment in his career. "It was because we were able to talk to people at the ground level to help fix those little problems before they become problems … where you're calling 911." The Gastown-Hastings Crossing Community Policing Centre will be run by an independent non-profit society staffed and governed by community members working in partnership with the VPD. Sandra Singh, deputy city manager, said the city spends about a "couple hundred thousand dollars" a year on community policing centres, and estimated the GHX CPC would cost a little bit more due to its larger size. She noted the goal will be to have the centre open seven days a week and expand the centre and its hours as it grows. The province gave a one-time $1-million contribution toward the development of the centre. Landon Hoyt, executive director of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association, said the new centre is one way to move toward a more community-focused approach to safety. He noted it will be more than a hub for policing. "It provides a drop-in centre, a stop-over space for our safety patrols, Gastown safety patrols, the EMS bike patrols, things like that."
IOL News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Claims that Senzo Mchunu has alleged ties with crime syndicates threatens ANC's renewal project in KZN
Left: Police Minister Senzo Mchunu accompanied by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhhlanhla Mkhwanazi and National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola during one of the police events in the province. Image: Supplied A senior ANC member in KwaZulu-Natal said that the claims of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu's alleged relationship with crime syndicates will negatively impact the party's renewal project in the province. On Sunday, provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi claimed that Mchunu allegedly abused his ministerial powers to shield a member of a crime syndicate in Gauteng who was arrested for three attempted murders. The ANC insider said that if these allegations proven to be true, the party's renewal campaign will suffer a serious political blow in the province. The regional leader, who has been appointed to one of the task teams that were recently announced by the provincial party leadership, said if there was evidence to back these claims and if the president chose not to remove Mchunu from his position, the party will suffer serious consequences. 'This is a serious problem for us in the province, particularly as regional task teams. The party is banking on us to bring back all the party members that voted for other parties in the last year's general elections. "The problem we will face will be how to defend Mchunu and dismiss such serious allegations coming from a credible person like Mkhwanazi. It will be difficult not to believe what Mkhwanazi has said but let's wait for the national leadership to see how it handles the matter. I'm sure they will also think about the political implications of this,' said insider. The ANC in the province has recently appointed all 11 regional task teams and marshalled them to win municipalities for the party in the next year's local government elections. The party's top brass has reportedly summoned Mchunu to Luthuli House to explain his side of the story. President Cyril Ramaphosa was reportedly enroute from the BRICS summit in Brazil to deal with the matter which he described as a grave national security concern. Mkhwanazi on Sunday claimed Mchunu's real reason for disbanding the police's political killings unit was because it assisted in dismantling a drug cartel in Gauteng. He said last year he received a request from Gauteng's police organised crime unit for assistance in arresting drug cartel suspects whom the unit had discovered were working with top politicians in parliament. He stated that the unit arrested a businessman and police discovered text messages between the minister and the suspect. He further stated that the Minister's associate, also sent a message to the suspect informing him that he had arranged a meeting between the minister and the Deputy National Commissioner from Crime Prevention, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya to find a solution. Mchunu and Sibiya both dismissed the rumours as baseless.
CTV News
11-06-2025
- CTV News
Neighbourhood Safety and Crime Prevention Walk being held in Kingsville
Residents in the Town of Kingsville are encouraged to take park in a 'Neighbourhood Safety and Crime Prevention Walk' on Wednesday evening. As part of the Windsor-Essex Regional Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, the town is joining the OPP for the walk where residents can learn how to prevent opportunities for crime, change the way they see their neighbourhood, and learn personal safety tips. Individuals will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion and ask questions to officials along the walk. Participants will meet at the Mettawas Park Gazebo, located on Park Street in Kingsville. Members of the City of Windsor and OPP will guide residents through the two kilometre walk through the neighbourhood north of the park. Michelle Oake, project lead of human and health services at the City of Windsor, said this is not the first time this event has been held. 'The event is a direct action of the Windsor-Essex Regional Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, and we have hosted these types of events in all of the municipalities in the Windsor-Essex region.' She said they're hoping for a good turnout. 'They've been very successful. We are hosting these as a community response. One of the priorities within this Community Safety and Well-Being Plan is engaged in safe communities, and these walks are always a great opportunity to educate residents, improve community relations, and build rapport with the community.' Oake said this is about education and relationships. 'We want to provide education on crime prevention techniques and strategies to enhance feelings of safety in the neighbourhood,' she said. 'But we also want to improve community relations, so strengthen those relationships between residents, local providers, community groups, organizations, municipal administration, and local police leaders.' Another walk will be held in Lakeshore in the upcoming weeks. Following that event, every municipality in Windsor-Essex would have taken part in a Safety & Crime Prevention Walk. No registration is required. The walk will take place on Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The walk will happen rain or shine, and residents taking part are encouraged to wear comfortable walking shoes. - Written by Meagan Delaurier and Rob Hindi/AM800 News.
Hamilton Spectator
09-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Finance questions after long wait in Kanesatake
The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) audited financial statements for the 2023-2024 fiscal year are now available, but the community's finances remain somewhat opaque, even after several months of delays. MCK chief John Canatonquin, the lead on the finance portfolio, said the number that stuck out to him most was the amount of deferred revenue, which climbed from about $12.5 million to nearly $16.7 million. This goes in the liabilities column, meaning it is factored into the balance sheet as debt, for a total debt of $7.8 million, compared to $6.9 million last year. Deferred revenue is money received by the MCK that it did not spend, the lion's share of which comes from ISC funding. 'For me, it's not a debt. We have the money. It's just we didn't spend it,' said Canatonquin. 'Remove the deferred revenue and it's not a debt. We don't have any debt,' he said. Why so much was not spent is not clear, according to Canatonquin. 'Most of it was caused because of the COVID,' he said. 'The people didn't spend the money.' Now it will be necessary to meet with each department to untangle the situation, he said. 'We have to talk to each department to make sure they spend the money, so everything will be good by next year,' he said. However, since this is only being reviewed now, he said, the departmental ambiguities are not expected to be remediated in the audited financial statements for 2024-2025, which are due July 29. 'When we go through to each department and have the money spent accordingly to each department, we should be perfect. We should be good. If it's a deficit, we should be small or a small surplus,' he said. 'For me, what's bothering me now is the deferred revenue, and also the way they were doing it in finance where they go with the global amount instead of going per department. Now they are supposed to switch to follow by department. That way we'll have no problem after that,' he said. It's possible the housing and infrastructure department is in deficit, he said. 'They maybe overspent. I noticed in finance, they see the global amount, okay they have so much money in the global, but they don't go per department. That's the problem. 'You don't have the money, you don't spend it. If you need more money, you go and get it. Get the money and then you spend it. Simple,' he said. Some notable figures in the statements include a $537,570 deficit, compared to a surplus of more than $1 million the year before, and nearly $500,000 in legal fees, more than $200,000 compared to the year before. The Infrastructure Public Works program expenses more than doubled to $870,624, while Crime Prevention went up to $968,494 from $210,160. One outstanding question is the source of an $800,000 cancellation in government funding as compared to $0 the year before, for which Canatonquin did not have an answer readily available. Missing reports In addition to the publicly available financial statements, The Eastern Door has obtained a 'Notification of Reporting Requirements Report' from December 2024, which shows at that time a total of 25 overdue reports across at least eight departments, 24 of those more than six months overdue. The majority of these are attributable to Community Infrastructure, with 13 reports 'deemed unobtainable.' The result? $388,288 of funding at risk, according to the documents. Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) would not confirm with The Eastern Door how many reports are outstanding or how much money is at risk, but did provide some clarity on the department's policies. 'All funding agreements include reporting requirements, which are outlined in the terms and conditions of each agreement,' said Jennifer Cooper, spokesperson for ISC. 'The term 'unobtainable' is used to describe the status of any report that is not received by the department within 180 calendar days of its due date. Despite this status, the terms and conditions of the agreement must still be met. When reporting is overdue, ISC may hold back some portion of program funding to recipients until the report is received. 'Each month, written notice is sent to recipients if they have outstanding reports. Held-back funding is released to the recipient after the report is received,' she said. Timelines The First Nations Financial Transparency Act requires a First Nation's financial statements to be submitted to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) within 120 days of the fiscal year, which ends March 31, for a July 29 deadline, but 2019 is the last time the statements were on track. This year, the statements were posted on March 24, 2025, nearly a year after the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal period. In comparison, Kahnawake's financial statements for the same period were posted by ISC on September 4, 2024. There is a delay between ISC's receipt of the documents and their appearance online, however. Along with the audited financial statements, the schedule of remuneration and expenses for MCK chiefs was also published. Canatonquin, Amy Beauvais, Valerie Bonspille, Denise David, Brant Etienne, and Serge Otsi Simon were all paid a salary of $67,649 in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, with Victor Bonspille receiving $75,439 in remuneration as grand chief. Beauvais incurred the highest expenses in that period, with $5,737, and Etienne the least – $354. Victor Bonspille's expenses totalled $3,502, according to the document. marcus@ Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
