FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2019
Ontario Investing in Community Safety in Brantford
$3.2 million over three years through new grant program
NEWS
BRANTFORD — Today, the Ontario government announced that it is providing police services across the province with the resources they need to combat crime and keep communities safe by investing $195 million through the new Community Safety and Policing (CSP) Grant over the next three years.
Of this significant investment, approximately $3.2 million will help Brantford Police Service:
- Strengthen their rapid intervention teams by working with community partners to provide collaborative responses to individuals in crisis
- Launch a Coordinated Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy in partnership with local community-based organizations to reduce victimization and identify victims of human trafficking
- Form a multidisciplinary Human Trafficking Team to coordinate intervention initiatives and support services to provide victims and those at risk with the help they need
- Develop and implement social media and education campaigns to help prevent youth from being recruited and exploited and to highlight support services available to victims
- Purchase enhanced surveillance equipment and technology to identify and rescue victims.
Together, these initiatives will play a crucial role in strengthening community safety in Brantford and surrounding area.
“Public safety is a fundamental responsibility of government,” said Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General. “That’s why we believe in putting resources directly into the hands of police services, as they are the experts in maintaining public safety and our primary partners in keeping Ontario communities safe.”
The CSP Grant provides police services with the necessary tools and resources to enable deployment of frontline officers where and when they are needed most, as well as support police services as they implement public safety and community policing initiatives that focus on local or provincial priorities.
“The Brantford Police Service is very pleased to be a recipient of the Community Safety and Policing Grant from the Ministry of the Solicitor General,” said Chief Robert A. Davis, Brantford Police Service. “Thanks to Premier Doug Ford, the ministry, and MPP Will Bouma’s office for their ongoing support and partnership for community policing and safety. This grant will allow our service to expand enforcement, intervention and prevention strategies that will positively contribute to the safety and well-being of our community.”
Through the local priorities funding stream of the program, 89 police services boards will be allocated a total of $181 million to address issues that were identified by their communities as local areas of focus. These include collaboration between the police and community organizations to help individuals suffering from mental health issues and addictions (e.g., mobile crisis response teams), as well as programs to combat impaired driving, property crime and other public safety concerns. In addition, approximately $14 million will be allocated to 18 police services boards under the provincial priorities funding stream to address gun and gang violence, sexual violence and harassment, and human trafficking.
QUICK FACTS
- Police services will be required to report annually on the outcomes of initiatives for both the local and provincial priorities funding streams of the CSP grant program.
- The CSP Grants build on the $105.4 million both the provincial and federal governments have invested to date to combat gun and gang violence across the province through the Ontario’s Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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For more information, contact MPP Will Bouma at 519-759-0361 or will.bouma@pc.ola.org