Small group of community members join the safety and crime prevention walk

This year's safety and crime prevention walk was a success, with a small group of about 20 people joining in on Thursday evening. 

The City of Windsor partnered with Windsor Police on this initiative as part of the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. 

Residents joined police and city officials to walk through the Mitchell Park neighbourhood to learn how to prevent opportunities of crime, change the way they see their neighbourhood, as well as learn safety tips. 

The walk took place starting at Mitchell Park before walking approximately two kilometres through the north neighbourhood of the park.

Barry Horrobin, Director of Planning and Physical Resources at Windsor Police Service, says it was a very casual walk where questions can be answered. 

"There's not a lot of technical jargon that we're going to be talking about. It's basic know how about your own surroundings, your neighbourhood, your property. If you don't live here, but you have a loved one that lives here so you have a stake in this neighbourhood."

He says it's about seeing simple things through a new lens.

"We're trying to elevate people's awareness, we're trying to elevate the manner in which the Windsor Police, and the city and other members of the Community Safety and Well-Being Planning team engage with the public, all under the umbrella of crime prevention."

Horrobin adds that they want to see an increase in engagement between neighbours. 

"When we make suggestions about a piece of property, we'll point out things like is your address number big enough? Even if it's big, are the numbers of a contrasting colour onto which the background they're mounted so that when you call police in an emergency at night, and visibility isn't as good, we can still see your address number."

This was the first safety and crime prevention walk to take place in the City of Windsor, but similar walks have taken in place in surrounding municipalities such as Tecumseh, Essex and Leamington. 

In 2021, the Safer Ontario Act required municipalities to prepare and adopt community safety and well-being plans to identify and prioritize regional and local risk factors, while also working to enhance collaboration across multiple sectors by strengthening how communities collectively coordinate services on issues related to safety and well-being.

- with files from AM800's Aaron Mahoney