One of the top things that Langley City businesses and residents want addressed is to reduce criminal and negative activity in our community. This is one of the reasons why the Crime Prevention Task Group was formed in 2017, and why we have the second highest RCMP member to resident ratio in Metro Vancouver.
In the fall of 2015, Langley City released the “Community Crime Prevention Strategic Plan.” I previously posted about this plan. One of the objectives of the plan was to “advocate to senior levels of government to provide the necessary programs and resources to address justice, crime prevention and public safety issues.”
As a municipality, there are many things that we can do though we need the province’s support when it comes to addressing mental health, rent geared-to-income, and addiction management. The following were the measurable outcomes from the 2015 plan which required the support of the provincial government.
“Petition the Province and Fraser Health Authority to provide funding for an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team for the Langleys”
“Petition the Province to provide local access to services for people with mental illness, and for those with both addictions and mental illness.”
These two requests resulted in an Intensive Case Management (ICM) team for Langley. This team is currently at capacity. City council has requested multiple times for this team to be expanded.
“Petition the Province to provide funding for a Car 67”
This service provides crisis intervention, risk assessments, and referrals to individuals. It is a partnership between Fraser Health and the RCMP. This service is still not available to Langley residents.
“Petition the Province to amend the Privacy Act to relax requirements for the implementation of CCTV on public spaces.”
CCTV has been installed in some public spaces in Langley City. CCTV can only be installed if other crime prevention techniques have failed.
“Petition the Province to implement the recommendations from the recently completed Prolific Offender Management pilot project to improve approaches to incarceration and sentencing.”
I do not have an update on this.
“Petition the Province to provide effective drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery programs.”
As part of the opioid crisis response, there are more services available through Fraser Health. More services are still needed.
“Petition the Province to provide funding for youth life skills training such as conflict resolution, decision making and employment training at local schools.”
I do not have an update on this.
“Request that the Province install ‘No Panhandling’ signs at major intersections in the City such as 200th Street and Langley Bypass and Fraser Highway and Langley Bypass.”
This was completed.
“Petition the Province to reduce the profit margins for methadone dispensaries.”
I do not have an update on this.
“Petition Fraser Health to provide a psychiatric nurse at the Langley Memorial Hospital.”
I do not have an update on this.
“Petition the Province to strengthen inter-agency collaboration and coordination across the wide range of crime prevention and reduction initiatives.”
As a municipality, we have taken this task on ourself. City staff and council meet with people from Fraser Health, the RCMP, non-profits, and provincial ministries.
While the provincial government has provided more services to our community, there are still gaps that need to be filled. Five years later, we still need more resources from the provincial government to address getting people support to manage addiction, improve mental health, and be lifted out of poverty. This is how we reduce the need for people to commit the kinds of negative activity we see in our community.
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