Prevention Strategy: Winnipeg Police Service

Winnipeg Police Service: Block by Block, a new crime-reduction strategy currently underway, could significantly change this. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Three factors make Block by Block innovative and give it a good chance of being successful: integrated social-service delivery; crime prevention through social development; and a new policing strategy. The Winnipeg Police Service knows the police can never arrest their way out of the city's problems Between 1991 and 2010, the crime rate in Canada's nine largest cities declined a whopping 50 per cent. In Winnipeg, the reduction was only 25 per cent, much of which was due to an 85 per cent decline in car theft. With the exceptions of the auto-theft prevention strategy and some gang-reduction programs, violent crime and community safety have remained significant challenges for Winnipeg. The Province of Manitoba, the City of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Police Service have developed partnerships with a broad range of social agencies and community groups that will establish one of North America's most comprehensive community-safety and wellness initiatives, literally tackling the issues block by block. This initiative will initially focus on a 21-block area in the William Whyte neighbourhood. If successful, it will expand to other communities. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.