Brampton Safe City: 

Safe City Golf Tournament Net’s $40,000 for Community Safety Programs

Brampton, Ontario – Regional Councillor Gael Miles presented a cheque for $40,000 to Brampton Safe City Association on behalf of more than 150 golfers and dozens of sponsors from this years Gael Miles Charity Golf Tournament for Brampton Safe City. Miles serves as Honourary chairs for the event, which has grossed more than $500,000 for community safety programs in its eight year history. Net proceeds from the event directly support Brampton Safe City Association programs such as: Neighbourhood Watch; the Crime Prevention Academy Leadership Program; Road Watch; the Youth Education and Safety Program; Youth Safety Television; and the Safe City Partnership.

“The Safe City Golf Tournament has become an invaluable fundraiser for the Brampton Safe City Association.  The financial support from this tournament is key in allowing us to continue supporting Brampton residents and businesses with community safety initiatives.  We are incredibly grateful to all of the golfers, our many corporate sponsors and of course Gael for their incredible support.”
Rob Filkin, Board Past President, Brampton Safe City Association

The title sponsors for this year’s tournament included: The Bramalea City Centre, Taro Pharmaceuticals and Four Valleys Excavating and Grading.  Ninety seven, (97) businesses donated prizes and auction items to this years tournament including: Peel Regional Police; Bacardi Distillers, Fiesta Barbecues; Coca Cola Ltd; Collex Collision; Woodbine Entertainment; and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to name a few.

To find out more about the Brampton Safe City Association and its various community safety programs and initiatives, please visit the Brampton Safe City Association Web site at www.bramptonsafecity.ca.

Brampton Declared a Safe Community

The Safe Communities Foundation has officially designated the City of Brampton a Safe Community, the first community to receive this distinction in the Greater Toronto Area.

The Safe Community concept was developed by the World Health Organization and is facilitated by the Safe Communities Foundation in Canada. Brampton is the 32^nd community to receive the Safe Community designation.

The Brampton Safe City Partnership is a coalition of more than 20 local community groups, businesses and government organizations committed to addressing Brampton’s safety issues.  

Brampton’s Safe Community Plan, is a multifaceted injury and crime reduction strategy focusing on five key areas: children’s injuries and fire prevention safety; falls prevention for seniors; workplace safety for the construction, transportation and manufacturing sectors; road safety; and, crime reduction for residents and businesses.

“The Brampton Safe City Partnership has done a wonderful job bringing together people from all walks of life to help make Brampton a safer and healthier place to live,” said Councillor Gael Miles. “Now the citizens of Brampton can enjoy the benefits and quality of life that are characteristic of a safe community.”

“Brampton, and every organization that are partners in this initiative, are proud to work with the Safe Communities Foundation and to be recognized as a Safe Community,” said Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell. “Our community has had a long-standing commitment to creating and maintaining a great city, a diverse city, a city on a human scale, a safe city.”

Police Services Board

On June 30, 2005 I concluded my six and a half year term as a member of the Peel Police Services Board – a challenging and exciting experience that I was sorry to see come to an end. Peel Regional Police is the second largest municipal police force in Ontario, with 1,646 uniformed officers and 605 civilian staff. The force provides policing for the 1,025,000 people who reside in the cities of Brampton and Mississauga, as well as the 29 million travellers who pass through Pearson International Airport annually. There are special challenges associated with policing a multi-ethnic community such as Peel’s in an environment where crime is becoming more complex.

Some of the highlights of the past year:

• The opening of the new Springdale Community Police station in June 2004;
• Approval by Regional Council for a new joint use facility that will house Bramalea’s #21 Division police station;
• The opening of the Emil V. Kolb Centre for Police Excellence which houses many of the specialized units, including the Homicide and Missing Persons Bureau, Fraud Bureau, Commercial Auto Crime Bureau, and Victim Services of Peel;
• A new Child Exploitation Unit was established in April 2004 which responds to the growth in child pornography, child luring, and computer-related crimes;
• Additional frontline uniform officers became available through a pilot project that uses civilian staff to prepare court packages for processing arrested parties through the court.

Peel Regional Police recently completed their 2005 to 2007 Strategic Plan, which responds to what you told us in a survey sent to both businesses and residents. The results showed that overall satisfaction with Peel Regional Police was at an all-time high. Residents stated they were concerned with aggressive driving, break-ins, youth gang activity, and drugs. The area of greatest concern was aggressive driving, speeding, and disobeying traffic signs and signals. Of greatest concern to local business owners were breakins, auto theft, vandalism, and fraud. The solutions proposed by both residential and business respondents were: to be more visible, to crack down harder on criminals, to hire more officers, and to spend more time talking to people. The complete 2004 Annual Statistical Report can be viewed online at www.peelpolice.on.ca.

I am happy to advise you that the strategic plan supports the continuation of community-focused policing which is seen as a priority. This is reflected in initiatives such as the increasing number of community stations and youth education programs.

In response to what you told us, Regional Council also approved the hiring of 32 new officers in November 2004.

At my final meeting of the Police Services Board in June, discussion centred around the short-comings of the new federal sex offender legislation which was enacted in 2004. Unfortunately, the federal legislation has a number of limitations and flaws. The Board has resolved to lobby the government to strengthen the new federal legislation, as well as to keep the current provincial sexual offender registry (commonly known as “Christopher’s Law”) alive in the province of Ontario. As the first step in this campaign, the Peel Police Services Board sponsored a motion before the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Police Boards in August 2005.