Published in the BANAR February 2024
Brad Hampson & Don Kelly
On March 7, starting at 7pm, at the Community Hall, the BCA will be conducting a Neighborhood Watch (NW) seminar. The event will be a joint collaboration between the Ottawa Police (OPS) and the BCA. The aim of the event is to inform residents of the importance of the NW in our community and its role in making it a safer place.
Traditionally, NW was about neighbours knowing neighbours, paying attention to things that did not look right on the street, and reporting suspicious circumstances for follow-up action by police. This has evolved, to include crime prevention tips across the spectrum of criminality. The NW program also keeps the community informed about general crime awareness in our community, and understanding the trends, in order to crime-proof the neighbourhood. The seminar will focus on the NW program, how it works, and the roles of NW participants, including the Street Captains (also known as Block Captains).
The focus will also be on the positive role of community policing. Police are most effective when they know their communities, and that occurs through a general relationship with the communities they serve. We have excellent community police officers who serve the Hamlet, and are our link to the Patrol and Investigative Sections, including Crime Analysts. Come to the event, meet some of these people, and learn how we can work collaboratively in our community to make it a safer place. The OPS will also be featuring the Ottawa Police incident mapping tool, which is available to everyone in the community on the internet. This tool allows you to see on a map where incidents (to OPS) of various types are occurring within the Hamlet.
Remember, the strength of our community lies in working with each other – “Neighbors helping Neighbors”. Join us at the seminar and be a contributing partner in improving community safety.