> Kwantlen, SFU to hold Surrey crime reduction forums
Kwantlen, SFU to hold Surrey crime reduction forums
Contact:
- Joanne Curry, campus director, SFU Surrey, 778.782.7475, joannec@sfu.ca
- Rob Fleming, associate vice-president, Kwantlen University College, 604.599.3477, rob.fleming@kwantlen.ca
May 22, 2007
Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Kwantlen University College will hold community forums in support of Surrey Mayor Dianne Watt’s crime reduction strategy.
The forums, to be held between October 2007 and April 2008, will bring together police, politicians, academics and community groups to review plans and approaches to crime reduction and to explore causes and solutions to youth crime, homelessness and property crime in Surrey. They will allow participants to exchange information from their individual perspectives and experiences, and explore and develop ways to address issues of concern to the community.
SFU and Kwantlen will also develop web-based resources to allow participation by Surrey citizens and others in debating the issues and finding solutions.
“The discussions will be designed to serve as one of the components leading to a refined crime-reduction strategy for the city, and potentially the larger Fraser Valley region,” says Rob Fleming, associate vice-president, academic at Kwantlen.
Joanne Curry, executive director of SFU’s Surrey campus, says the forums will help the key players in the mayor’s crime reduction initiative build effective strategies and solutions. “The issues involved in crime reduction strategies are complex. Criminology faculty, RCMP leaders, city planners, and community leaders all have knowledge and expertise to contribute in the theme areas. A key outcome of the forums will be the knowledge exchange among the participants on the key issues,” she says.
Mayor Watts welcomed the Kwantlen-SFU initiative. “The application of the recommendations in Surrey’s crime reduction strategy requires a collaborative effort from government, police, community groups and academia,” she says. “I am confident that these community discussions will provide an important opportunity for the community to come together to help look at what each of us can do to reduce crime in Surrey.”
RCMP Chief Superintendent Fraser MacRae, and researchers in SFU’s School of Criminology and Kwantlen’s Department of Criminology are also involved in planning for the forums.
The SFU-Kwantlen initiative, called Community Engagement for Crime Reduction, has received funding of $50,000 from the Canadian Council for Learning.
The forums, to be held between October 2007 and April 2008, will bring together police, politicians, academics and community groups to review plans and approaches to crime reduction and to explore causes and solutions to youth crime, homelessness and property crime in Surrey. They will allow participants to exchange information from their individual perspectives and experiences, and explore and develop ways to address issues of concern to the community.
SFU and Kwantlen will also develop web-based resources to allow participation by Surrey citizens and others in debating the issues and finding solutions.
“The discussions will be designed to serve as one of the components leading to a refined crime-reduction strategy for the city, and potentially the larger Fraser Valley region,” says Rob Fleming, associate vice-president, academic at Kwantlen.
Joanne Curry, executive director of SFU’s Surrey campus, says the forums will help the key players in the mayor’s crime reduction initiative build effective strategies and solutions. “The issues involved in crime reduction strategies are complex. Criminology faculty, RCMP leaders, city planners, and community leaders all have knowledge and expertise to contribute in the theme areas. A key outcome of the forums will be the knowledge exchange among the participants on the key issues,” she says.
Mayor Watts welcomed the Kwantlen-SFU initiative. “The application of the recommendations in Surrey’s crime reduction strategy requires a collaborative effort from government, police, community groups and academia,” she says. “I am confident that these community discussions will provide an important opportunity for the community to come together to help look at what each of us can do to reduce crime in Surrey.”
RCMP Chief Superintendent Fraser MacRae, and researchers in SFU’s School of Criminology and Kwantlen’s Department of Criminology are also involved in planning for the forums.
The SFU-Kwantlen initiative, called Community Engagement for Crime Reduction, has received funding of $50,000 from the Canadian Council for Learning.