SafeTO is a Community Safety and Wellbeing (CSWB) Plan currently under development that aims to shift from a focus on emergency response to intentionally mobilizing risk intervention, prevention and social development approaches to move to a culture of prevention. The plan will prioritize four challenge areas: community trauma, community violence, harm and victimization, and community justice to help bring about a safer Toronto.
The Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, S.O. 2019, c. 1, Sched. 1 Part XVI mandates every municipality across Ontario to prepare and adopt a Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan by July 2021.
Municipalities will form a multi-sectoral advisory committee comprised of representation from the police service board and other local service providers in health/mental health, education, community/social services and children/youth services.
The Municipality will consult the advisory committee, affected communities and those that serve them on the prioritization of risk factors and to identify strategies to address them.
The Municipality will use relevant data to identify and prioritize risk factors that contribute to crime, victimization and community safety and wellbeing; and will set out measurable outcomes that the strategies are intended to produce
Police Service Boards will implement business plans that align with and further the goals of the Municipality’s CSWB Plan.
The Municipality will report on and publish the CSWB plan.
The plan will be revised within a four-year time frame.
Our work leverages the Community Safety and Wellbeing Planning Framework developed by the Ministry of Solicitor General in partnership with a broad range of sectors including the City of Toronto. The Community Safety and Wellbeing Planning Framework includes:
The following areas have emerged from staff review of existing engagement and consultation data and reflect key principles in our approach to the SafeTO work – build on the existing community and institutional wisdom. It is important to note that, all of the prioritized challenges are interrelated and that there will be overlap in how the city responds to these areas.
Prioritized Challenge | Description | Related Issues | Strategies |
---|---|---|---|
Community Trauma | Consistent exposure to events that can cause physical, emotional and psychological harm can have a negative impact on community wellbeing, health and safety |
|
Mobilize the City and Community to become a trauma-informed City:
|
Community Violence | Community violence is defined as intentional acts of interpersonal violence often committed in public areas by individuals who may or may not be intimately related to the victim |
|
Prioritize City and Community:
|
Harm and Victimization | Addressing short or long-term vulnerabilities that cause negative and harmful effects on individuals, families, groups or places resulting as a result of escalating risk factors must be a priority for the City. |
|
Mobilize City and Community:
|
Community Justice | There is a lack of justice definitions and approaches that bring together community supports to address the root causes of crime in pre- and post-charge spaces. |
|
|
Community engagement will take place from February to mid-March 2021. Details about engagement will be posted in early February.