Kris Andreychuk is a social worker with the City of Edmonton and a member of a specialized Neighbourhood Empowerment Team working in the McCauley neighbourhood. Kris and his partner, Constable Chapman Lee work with the community to identify and implement ways to prevent violent crime from reoccurring.
Reduce the conditions of social disorder and better address the needs of distressed communities.
These were the instructions given to us following the announcement of the Violence Reduction Action Plan in August 2011 by the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Police Service (EPS) and REACH Edmonton in response to violent crime.
We’re a specialized Neighbourhood Empowerment Team (NET). These teams have played an integral role in community policing and crime prevention in Edmonton for the past 8 years and are the result of a four way partnership with the City, EPS, The Family Centre and the United Way.
Two weeks after the announcement of the Violence Reduction Action Plan, specialized teams were deployed to communities that have been identified as most in need of targeted crime reduction. We have started in McCauley (a.k.a. Chinatown, Little Italy, Church Street, etc), working with the community to identify and implement ways to prevent crime from reoccurring.
My partner, Constable Chapman Lee, and I are going about this by focusing on ‘risk factors’ – things that increase the likelihood of someone being either a victim or perpetrator of violence.
There is much to be said about root causes; however, the one factor we immediately picked up on is the over consumption of alcohol. This was based on our initial observations has been echoed countless times over the past month by residents, business owners, organizations and, yes, even those we’ve caught drinking in public.
There are a few products that we are particularly curious about – a few brands even – based on their prevalence and the loyalty of the consumer. In academic circles they’re referred to ‘harmful alcohol’ or ‘single serve malt liquor’; in pop culture they’re better known as ‘forties’. As the name implies they’re a large serving (1.14 L or 40oz), high alcohol (7-11%) and cheap, incredibly cheap (starting at $5).
As simple as a solution may seem, it is extremely complex. It is, after all, addictions driving this. So, instead of assuming we have the answer, we’ve decided to ask the question. Over the past month, we’ve been connecting and building relationships with our city’s most vulnerable people and connecting them to services based on need and locality. These connections have allowed us the opportunity to pose important questions about violence and risk, which has given us the chance to start to better establish the scope of the issues and consider possible solutions.
This is much of what we’ll be doing over the next few months: impacting the frequency and severity of violence by focusing on, and limiting, risk.
If you’re in McCauley you’ll probably see us around. If we’re not on the street, we’re most likely in one of the incredible restaurants in the area. Feel free to say hi – we would like to hear your thoughts on safety in McCauley.
We’re fairly recognizable. I have a ‘NET’ symbol on the back of my black jacket and vest and Chapman… we’ll I assume you know how to spot a police officer. Feel free to buy us a cappuccino or some green onion cakes.