CRIM 202 + BADM 460: Community Safety

How might we foster safe communities for diverse populations?

Term: Fall 2019
Department: Criminology, Business Administration
Course: Surveillance & Social Control (CRIM 202); Business and Society (BADM 460)
Instructors: Sarah Yercich; Laurie Prange Martin
Staff contact: Sergeant Peri Mainwaring (North Vancouver RCMP)

BADM students will create stakeholder engagement plans in which they will suggest innovative ways to engage with different stakeholders implicated in the question of social chronic offenders.

CRIM students will select an issue relevant to the RCMP and conduct a strengths-based environmental scan on the role of different agencies in addressing that issue, with a focus on diversity, cultural and language barriers, and relationships with minorities as they relate to RCMP activity in the community. Topics include:

  • How can police better communicate with youth, especially in practical terms (capacity, environment)? How can police better connect with youth?
  • How can we (the RCMP) better connect with our senior population?
  • Are sobering centres a useful tool? Are they feasible (e.g., criteria to access, cost potentially prohibitive)?
  • What can we do to better respond to incidents of racism and support those who experience racism and/or hate crime?
  • Will decriminalizing drugs assist in reducing police calls for service and/or having these calls directed to more appropriate resources? Further, what/who are more appropriate resources for handling such issues?
  • What are options for alternative and/or transitional housing? What is working and what is not (e.g., modular housing)?
  • How can we (the RCMP) better connect with and serve LGBT2QSA+ communities?
  • What are the possibilities in terms of creating support centres that incorporate services for vulnerable or marginalized people (e.g., health, housing support, employment programs)?

City Strategy and Goal Area:

  • Official Community Plan 2014
    • Goal 3.2: Safeguard the community and protect life, property and the environment.
      • Objective 3.2.2. Maximize the safety and security of community members by preventing and reducing the opportunities for, as well as the social and economic factors contributing to, criminal activity;
  • Council Strategic Plan 2018
    • A City for People is welcoming, inclusive, safe, accessible and supports the health and well-being of all.