POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA 115 1.0 INTRODUCTION Over the past several years, there has been an increase in reported youth violence and youth gang activity in both large and small Canadian communities. Public pressure and concern for community safety has made this a major issue in many communities. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has responded by initiating a focused research project and a national consultation on youth violence and youth gangs in Canada. FCM, in conjunction with the federal departments of the Solicitor General and Justice, undertook this research and consultation. The federal government has been addressing youth violence concerns more broadly through Family Violence and Brighter Futures initiatives, a national consultation on the Young Offenders Act and an overall commitment to a national crime prevention strategy. Through its Community Safety and Crime Prevention Program, FCM is providing national leadership in promoting a "Safer Communities" agenda. This is consistent with United Nations sponsored initiatives and other international efforts in this area. Crime prevention strategies in western countries, including Canada, have evolved from a traditional dependence on the criminal justice system to various crime prevention initiatives, including some that address the underlying social conditions that precipitate criminal behaviour. FCM has adopted a comprehensive, community-based approach to crime prevention. Such a strategy is intended to ensure both the short and long term protection of the public and the prevention of crime. Resources in this strategy may include: • the police, courts and corrections; • environmental design to make the physical environment safer; • target hardening, including alarm systems and opportunity reduction strategies such as block parent programs and; • social responses intended to address the underlying causes of much criminal behaviour. It is tailored to meet the needs of individual communities. It takes into account patterns of crime, as well as the community's social, economic and demographic profile. The community's attitude and commitment to solving their crime problems is also considered, as are the resources available in each community to make the desired changes. 1.1 The Youth Violence and Youth Gangs Project The FCM project focused primarily on collective youth violence and youth gang activity. To address this, many activities were undertaken. These included a detailed review of Canadian materials on the subject, the compilation of an extensive working bibliography, a review of Canadian statistical data and an analysis of media coverage on youthviolence related stories in selected Canadian newspapers and magazines., The core of the project consisted of indepth interviews with representatives of some 40 municipalities across the country. These included municipal politicians, representatives of the police, criminal justice, education, recreation and youth servicing agencies, public transportation, and others involved with youth violence. These were followed by site visits to six selected communities to explore ongoing community-based response strategies. In addition, a national consultation was held that involved over 225 participants representing the police, youth justice agencies, education, social housing, youth-serving agencies, municipalities and other levels of government. Young people from various communities also participated. Much of the information gleaned from these activities has been incorporated into this 'how to" manual. It is intended to help representatives of municipalities and other levels of government, police, courts, social services, health services, schools and interested groups and individuals to better understand youth violence and youth gangs in Canadian communities. 1.2 The Organization Of This How To Manual This how to manual describes an overview of the issue, the nature and extent of collective youth violence, as well as describing various approaches for mobilizing your community to plan for and respond to youth violence. 2.0 AN OVERVIEW OF THE YOUTH VIOLENCE AND YOUTH GANGS ISSUE Currently, what is known about youth violence and youth gangs is based on journalistic accounts, or limited anecdotal information. There is a strong tendency for Canadian authorities to import, in the most literal sense, American definitions and response strategies. The experiences of the two countries are quite different. More specifically, the youth gang problem in the United States bears little resemblance to what is going on in most Canadian communities. American images, however, have strongly influenced the way the phenomenon is being defined in Canada. One key issue addressed in the FCM project was to determine how community participants defined youth violence and youth gangs with youth up to 18 years of age. They noted a wide range of behaviours. Some were related to the actions of specific individuals such as the schoolyard bully. Others focused on behaviour such as "swarming" which involves groups of young people victimizing individuals, often stealing items of clothing such as shoes or jackets, or "wilding" which involves indiscriminate acts of violence perpetrated by groups of young people. Verbal, psychological and physical assaults were often noted as were date rape, sexual assault and hate/bias motivated attacks. Youth Violence and Youth Gangs: Responding to Community Concerns continued...
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==