Crime Reduction

Transit Police Service wholeheartedly supports the “crime reduction” approach to policing, and is proactively developing partnerships with the communities we work in to make using the transit system safer.

For many years there has been an expectation that the police deal with crime, and that crime prevention has been about ‘target hardening.’ There is certainly merit in this, but often it has done little more than push the problem somewhere else.

Crime reduction adopts a problem-solving approach to crime, and it takes the concept of prevention to a new level.  It seeks to address the root causes of crime, and to engage the broader community (government, residential and commercial) to form meaningful partnerships that share information and resources to change conditions, attitudes and opportunities that lead to crime.
 
Excellent examples are to be found both nationally and internationally of how communities working together have made a significant difference when a team approach is taken to crime.
 
Crime Reduction Initiatives
Below are some Crime Reduction initiatives we are involved in: 

IRAYL

Inter Regional At risk Youth Link (IRAYL) is a unique partnership youth outreach program run by Pacific Community Resources providing support and resources to youth who congregate on and around the Sky Train stations in Metro Vancouver.   Youth outreach workers identify and connect with targeted youth between the ages of 10 and 15 to build relationships. Youth are provided with resources, food, and other items as part of a cross regional crime reduction initiative.
 
Program Features:
• Teams of experienced youth workers on SkyTrain, five days a week, 11 hours per day
• Support to find missing and hard to find youth
• Referrals to resources for youth to access needed services
• Cross regional connections with Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, New Westminster and Richmond
• Collaborative relationship with Transit Police and other policing bodies 
 
Surrey City Centre Crime Reduction Project

Launched in 2010 as a pilot project, the now permanent joint project involves Transit Police and Surrey RCMP and targets crime and disorder in the Surrey City Centre area. The two member team focuses on establishing relationships with the local business community and commuters to obtain information about criminal activity in the area and to address safety concerns as they arise. This close collaboration between Transit Police and Surrey RCMP has meant the quick identification of chronic offenders, charges against those offenders and many “no-go” orders issued to prohibit known criminals from frequenting the areas around Surrey SkyTrain stations and bus loops.