The behavior of Oakville youth has been a serious topic of discussion by the Town, with a report provided to council on June 16 that details vandalism and rowdy behavior across Oakville.
Council received another report in October of 2009 – citing several incidents of vandalism and rowdy activities throughout Oakville. The report also included an Easter weekend bush party near Morrison Creek Valley that resulted in teens stealing resident’s patio furniture, and using it for kindling.
“I can’t really do anything to deal with the problem before it happens,” Dan Cozzi said, Director of Roads and Works Operations Department for the town. “The issue is how do we create some type of proactive measure to improve the situation as far as the rest of the town are concerned.”
Included in the report was a strategy proposed to council to solve the problems being faced by the town, which included the hiring of a Community Development Officer.
“The purpose of the Community Development Officer is to take on a whole bunch of tasks which we feel are proactive tasks. It’s an investment so that over time, perhaps we can address this problem of vandalism and rowdy behavior throughout the town,” Cozzi said.
“If we know that a particular area of town that is undergoing some problematic activity, this Community Development Officer can work with the police to potentially increase patrols in that area.”
“We have the opportunity to install security cameras, and that person could make recommendations to the appropriate department.”
The cost to hire a full-time community development officer is $77,000.
As a part of the strategy staff also recommended a partnership with schools boards to promote the adoption of walkways that connect roads to schools. Schools would be asked to advocate a no loitering policy within the walkways, and clean litter and graffiti as it appears.
Partnerships with businesses are also suggested, and would be encouraged to adopt walkways known for excessive littering and vandalism.
Increased lighting and security cameras are also recommended in hot spot areas known for rowdy behavior.
The entire strategy recommended by staff will cost the town $158,000.
“The strategy is really what we consider to be an investment. We can’t police, make arrests, and we can’t physically stop people from doing what they are doing. We really are in a position where we can react after the fact,” Cozzi said.
“I can’t do anything to stop it other than clean up the mess after the fact,” he said.
What’s your opinion? Please Comment below and vote in our Latest Poll at http://www.oakville.com
Tags: community development officer, rowdy behavior, vandalism
About the author: Michael Burton
Michael is a freelance writer and musician from Southern Ontario. He graduated from Sheridan College in 2010 and is a former editor of Travis Magazine. Today he writes for Oakville.com and Chill Magazine - while on the weekends he spends time writing music with his band Mercenaries.
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The article makes it sound like a crime wave. But are the rates of vandalism and “rowdy behaviour” actually higher now than in previous years or decades? It feels like just the opposite. Remember when Bronte was biker territory?
I do not see that a 77K employee can stop or prevent vandalism. NY city has a vandalism and crime problem but found very creative ways to reduce it. Rent “Take the Lead” and see a NY sucess story.
I too wonder if vandalism is actually a more serious issue than before. (Or rather, whether last year it was: one report is almost a year old.) Law and order always gets attention, but I believe across Canada crime is down. If it is up in Oakville, I would like to hear more facts.
And I thought we already had a lot of these community officers: they’re called police officers, surely. Vandalism is illegal and presumably we can send police, who cruise Oakville night and day in many cars, to reported incidents.
So: more facts please..?
Michael,
More facts are coming in more articles in the coming days on this issue. Stay tuned!
I’m 17 and I live in oakville. Does somebody keep track of every spot that is vandalized? Is there a report created yearly that proves that since the past few years, there have been x amount more incidents? I would argue that vandalism and “rowdy” behaviour has decreased. I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen, but if we’re talking about one or two occurrences over the span of a year, is that worth spending thousands of dollars on to remedy this almost non-existent situation? Why don’t we get some of our fine Officers to patrol the streets, not in their cruisers, but on foot? Just my two cents.
Joey,
Thanks for your comment!
We’ve got some stats from Halton Police that seem to indicate a decrease too but we’re still going through the data. We’ll have an article on this next week.
I live on a ravine and I can tell you that vandalism and rowdiness is very much alive. We have “deals” going on right behind our house, tons of drinking and breaking of bottles. Last year, a fire was set. And now, spray painting all over the Oakville signs and bridges.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that teenagers need to “hang out”, but they are becoming very bold. There is zero respect.
I don’t think a community officer, or more police is going to solve any of these problems. The town should use the money to support local businesses to organize some bi-weekly events around the town. Big infrastructure doesn’t seem to be needed, just more youth targeted cultural events around the town.