The Badge - January/February 2012 Issue

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French Community Consultative Committee Presents Lorraine & Gerard

February 9, 2012:  French Community Consultative Committee Presents Lorraine & Gerard
What:       Lorraine & Gerard
Who:        Everyone!
Where:    Toronto Police Headquarters, 40 College Street, 2nd Floor Auditorium
When:     Thursday February 9 - 8:00pm
Why:        Benefit services provided by the French Community Consultative Committee
Other:     Come enjoy an evening of song and music from the 20s to the present!

Report from the Crime Analyst at 51 Division

As 2012 ushers in a new year filled with hope and new opportunities, it also gives us a chance to reflect on the year just passed.  2011 was a year that saw many changes in the Regent Park area, both in physical appearance and in reported crime.  End of the year statistics for the entire division showed decreases in most major categories, the Regent Park area was no different.

Four major incident types that have historically plagued the area were tracked and have shown decreases.  Below is a table listing reported occurrences of assaults, homicides, robberies and sound of gunshot calls; found in brackets beside each number is the difference versus 2010:

	2011	Change from 2010
Assaults	24	( - 44 )
Homicides	0	(  -  4 )
Robberies	10	(  -  3 )
Sound of Gunshot Calls	2	(  -  2 )

TPSLinks: A NEW WAY TO COMMUNICATE

Overview of the Toronto Police Service Community Automated Notification System
In support of Community Mobilization efforts, The Toronto Police Service (TPS) has introduced the TPSlinks system. TPSlinks is a community automated notification system that delivers vital information to residents and business owners within the City of Toronto. TPSlinks will utilize sophisticated software by strategically sending information to a selected geographic area made possible through a community member sign–up webpage. Messages will be prepared and delivered by local Divisional Toronto Police Service officers through e-mail, landline and cellular telephone voice and text messaging. Message types and user delivery profiles can be tailored to meet the needs and preferences for each registered community member. Community members can choose to change their profile or unsubscribe at any time.

Types of Messages
The registration page enables community members to create a user profile which will specify the message types that the community member wishes to receive and restrict the types that are not desired. TPSlinks will send informative messages ranging from city events to safety notifications and emergency incidents.

The following are examples of message types that will be delivered:

Road Closures	Community Events	Information Alerts
Existing Amber Alerts	Missing Persons	Emergency Incidents
Neighbourhood Crime Alerts	Severe Weather Alerts	Threats to School Safety

How does one register?

Residents and business owners within the city of Toronto who wish to enrol to TPSlinks are provided with two registration methods as described below. They can register online via the Toronto Police Service internet site or complete a hardcopy form available online and at their local police station. Community members will be required to create a TPSlinks user profile by completing all required fields on the TPSlinks registration form. The user profile will increase the speed in which the system delivers messages, and will identify the geographic area where the messages are to be delivered. Community members also have the option to edit their online user profile or unsubscribe at any time. To unsubscribe, simply go to the registration page, open your user profile and select the deregister button at the bottom of the page. Your information and all identifiers will be removed and subsequent messages will not be delivered. To change an existing user profile, select edit with the user profile and make the appropriate changes. The changes will occur immediately.

ONLINE REGISTRATION:

• GO TO: www.torontopolice.on.ca
• Scroll down on the TPS Homepage and on the right side you will see the
• TPSLinks Logo.
• CLICK on the logo and it will take you to the TPSLink page.
• CLICK ON: “Click here to continue” at the very top.
• You will then be in the TPSLinks Registration and Information page.
• CLICK REGISTER (near top of page) to begin.
• Please read all the Terms of Participation. Follow the registration process.

Note: In the case of technical difficulties, please send an email to: TPSlinks@torontopolice.on.ca.

Youth & Criminal Justice Presentation

Crown attorney helps youth, newcomers understand legal system

There are many ways to get involved with the Canadian criminal justice system, and most of them don’t involve getting charged with a crime. Most commonly, you might be called as a witness or empanelled as a juror. Or you could be a victim or complainant.

It can be a hideously confusing experience. For instance, if your high school Latin is rusty, you might not realize that Regina vs Smith does not mean that the capital of Saskatchewan has anything to do with whatever Mr. Smith did, or why it should be contending with him anyway. A certain amount of law Latin and French still remains embedded. Procedures are not user-friendly, and jargon can be arcane.

If, on top of it all, you are a new Canadian, it can also be threatening. Many new arrivals come from countries where the local police and courts system are things to be feared and avoided at all costs. They have no guideposts, and often no prior knowledge of what the Canadian legal system is all about.

Glen Crisp, a lawyer with nine years’ experience who works as Crown Attorney Downtown, is trying to help make it easier in his spare time—which as CA and a new father to boot, is not all that plentiful. He is organizing sessions (roughly on a monthly basis) at the St Lawrence Community Recreation Centre on The Esplanade to introduce new Canadians to the criminal justice system and how it works.

“We’re in a reactive position,” says Crisp. “We see people—witnesses, victims, complainants, after they’ve become involved in the system and a lot of times they don’t know what’s going on, and they’re scared. They have a lot of questions. Sometimes you hear that people don’t come forward because they don’t understand the system. They get a subpoena and they think they’re getting in trouble.” (After all, in Law Latin, ‘sub poena’ means ‘under threat of penalty.’)

“It just got me thinking, is there a way we can be pro-active,” Crisp continues. “and by ‘we,’ I mean the community, not the legal system. If we can help people to understand the criminal justice system then I think that would go a long way – I mean, it’s the old chestnut: knowledge is power. It empowers and lowers intimidation. In a way it’s part of my responsibility through the law society to give back.”

After some exploration, Crisp made a connection with the city rec centre, and after some negotiations and false starts, the first session of about an hour and a half was held on Nov. 16.  He also went to 51 Division’s community liaison committee and spread the word among stakeholders, and plans to spread the word among schools and other community groups. The first group attracted only about nine people because of difficulties getting communication off the ground, but Crisp expects more in the monthly sessions beginning Feb. 8.

Correcting simple misimpressions and describing how the Canadian system functions will be big elements of the program.

According to Crisp, a common mistake people make—especially those of us who watch too many American TV shows—is to assume that the Crown Attorney works hand in glove with the police investigators, as the district attorney’s office does in the USA. It’s different in Canada, and although the Crown definitely receives reports of investigation from police, it it not an active agent of investigation itself. The content for the sessions is based partly on outreach work that the CA’s office already does with schools and community groups.

“It’s going to be an evolution. We’ll be doing sessions with youth emphasis, or ESL issues, or Charter issues, and we’ll see how it grows. We might get more CA’s involved, and I do know from speaking to defence lawyers that some of them might like to get involved as well,” Crisp says. “The sessions will all have in common that they’re an introduction to criminal law. It can be for youth, it can be for parents, it can be for grandparents. I’ll adjust specific content to specific audiences. I can’t give legal advice in these sessions, but it will be general information about how things work in the system.”

“I have to tell you, it’s a great community here. Debbie Field with SLCRC is fantastic and there are a lot of people who are working hard to improve the community. I’m really looking forward to helping them.”

The next session will be on Feb. 8 at St. Lawrence Community and Recreation Centre from 6:30 to 8 p.m. For more information, please contact the SLCRC at (416) 392-1347.

Source: www.thebulletin.ca

51 Division Toy Drive

Lumumba and Bob have been running
the Toy Drive for 6 years

Every year for the past six Bob Kemp, Streetscape coordinator, police liaison for 51 division and the supervisor for the St Lawrence BIA, kicked off the annual Toy Drive with the help of the Salvation army, church groups and the staff and patrons of Mill St. Brewery. The toy drive provided toys for needy children in the community and last year over 90 families were provided with toys. Bob goes to the Children's Aid Society on Christmas Eve to finish dropping of the gifts and on Christmas morning hands out toys to children that may have gone without. This was and is a truly unselfish and thoughtful act and my applause goes out to Bob, Lumumba and Mill St. Brewery for their involvement in helping the community during this family season.

Source:  http://www.snapdowntowntoronto.com/index.php?option=com_sngevents&id[]=357468