Violent crime, break and enters, and other property-related crime in Ottawa experienced a slight drop last year, an Ottawa police report stated — and it might have something to do with residents keen to create safer neighbourhoods.
A Crime Prevention Ottawa presentation yesterday showed residents how to keep themselves — and their neighbourhoods — safer through the use of a few tools.
“When we’re out and about in the community, we’ve identified a lot of people who are very interested in community safety, but don’t always have the knowledge of the best tools available to them,” said Nancy Worsfold, executive director of Crime Prevention Ottawa.
An Ottawa police web-based tool, OttawaCrime, allows residents to see what crimes are happening in their neighbourhoods.
“We do have a fair bit of traffic that goes to that site,” said Randy Mar, Ottawa police director, planning, performance and analytics. “The more people that are aware of it, the more beneficial it will be.”
Addressing community safety issues starts with understanding what is going on in the city, Worsfold said.
