Crime prevention resources are out there, but people need to make an effort to find them, says the president of a Red Deer neighbourhood group.
“Crime in our neighbourhood seems to be the biggest topic of conversation,” said Kendall Frayn, Kentwood Community Association president.
“I’m very big on the idea of us finding a way to change that. Posting about it on Facebook is good so people know, but let’s actually do something about it. Let’s find out what we can do as a neighbourhood, as individuals, as homeowners and as parents.”
The community association and the Central Alberta Crime Prevention Centre put up an informational pop-up booth at the park on Kendrew Drive Tuesday afternoon, to help teach residents how to keep themselves safe.
Michael Burkinshaw, CACPC summer student, said the centre has hosted 11 of these crime prevention booths this summer.
“In some areas (crime) has been very minor, with things like graffiti or mischief. There are other areas where break-ins or theft are a little more common,” said Burkinshaw.
The main goal of the booth is education, he added.
“We’re hoping by hosting these pop-up booths, we’re able to provide some useful information and resources to residents of the areas. Hopefully we can all work together towards future crime prevention,” said Burkinshaw.
Burkinshaw said bike thefts are a problem in the city.
“That’s something we’ve been working to address this summer by telling people about … the new bike registry,” he said.
“The idea is by people taking better ownership of their bikes by registering with that program and getting a tamp-resistant sticker shield that goes on their bikes with a little code. The police are aware of that registry and use it to get stolen bikes back to their owners.”
Petty crimes are common in the Kentwood neighbourhood, said Frayn.
“I think the biggest thing is people rummaging through cars. We don’t see a ton of vehicle break-ins, it seems to be more about a door being left unlocked.
“It’s tough. When I grew up stuff like that didn’t happen. You left your vehicles unlocked, you left your house unlocked and it was OK. But it’s a different age and we have to … find solutions,” she said.
After attending meetings with different community association groups, Frayn said she learned reporting crime is the No. 1 thing people should do to protect their neighbourhood.
“If people aren’t reporting it, nobody knows it’s happening. If people report it, we’ll get more funding, we’ll get more patrol units in our area,” said Frayn.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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