It’s time to talk about what a healthy community looks like. We don’t often talk of community health as being part of a police department’s job.
But the truth is that a community that is safe and vibrant is a community that is healthy. It takes many hands, many partners working together to foster that health.
Fighting crime is really only one part of helping communities be safe and vibrant. Underlying factors often lead to crime. By the time we, as the police, interact with someone, it is often the case that something else has already gone wrong in his or her life.
As I have long believed, a society cannot “arrest itself” out of its problems.
It’s time to talk about how we can work together to start to get at the underlying causes of crime and disorder where we live. We also have to figure out what we can do, working together, to start to rise to some of those challenges.
I have been chief constable at the Victoria Police Department for five months now and have enjoyed every minute of it. Having grown up in B.C., I am no stranger to Victoria. Even so, I have been constantly reminded over these last five months how positive our local residents are about where they live. People here are proud of their communities. They care about their neighbours. And they all want to live in communities that are healthy and safe.
That is why VicPD has been conducting community and business surveys over the past few months: to hear first-hand what our citizens have to say about policing, our service delivery and what they want for their neighbourhoods. I, along with members of the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board and officers and staff from across VicPD, have also been attending community events throughout our jurisdiction to learn more about what matters to residents and business owners alike.
And that’s why I’m hosting three town hall sessions in Victoria and Esquimalt during the month of June. My senior command team, community resource officers and members of the police board will sit down and work with residents to address two key questions.
The first question is, “What does it take to make your community healthy?”
The second question leads directly from the first: “What can we do to start to address these concerns?”
I’m looking forward to meeting more of the citizens who make this such a great place to live and who have welcomed me so warmly into their community.
Frank J. Elsner is chief constable of the Victoria Police Department. He will host a series of community consultations at the following locations:
• Thursday, June 12, 7-9 p.m.: Esquimalt council chambers, 1229 Esquimalt Rd.
• Tuesday, June 24, 7-9 p.m.: Fairfield-Gonzales Community Association, 1330 Fairfield Rd.
• Wednesday, June 25, 7-9 p.m.: Burnside Gorge Community Centre, 471 Cecelia Rd.
Visit vicpd.ca for more information.
