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Safe City Mississauga $199, 627 (2010), Safe City Brampton $397,108 (2007) –Peel Police officer/equipment/car $110,000

January 25th, 2010  

Some days I feel like I’m drowning in Crazy. Drowning in Mississauga.

Maybe a reader can help. That’s why I’m posting this puzzler here.

Like today, I was checking Wednesday’s City of Mississauga General Committee Grants Program agenda.

This item:

5. 1. That a 2010 Corporate Grant in the amount of $199,627 (actual grant of
$199,627 less rent of $16,590 including GST) be awarded to Safe City
Mississauga.

$199,627 —that’s a heck of a lot of money for —what?

Serious question. For what?

And Safe City Brampton looks even worse. Take a look at what Brampton spent in 2007 on their Safe City Brampton —over $397,000!

Here’s the actual Safe City Brampton document secured through Freedom of Information.

Click here for larger (1024 X 836) image.

SAFE CITY BRAMPTON YEAR END PROJECTION EXPENSES 2007 (secured through FREEDOM OF INFORMATION)

Check out the middle red. Over $397,000 spent on Safe City Brampton and zero for “Program Evaluation”.

And that’s zero spent for “Program Evaluation” despite the Disaster Management Canada magazine article, “BRAMPTON: A World Leader in Safety” stating that Brampton won its Safe City WHO designation by satisfying “WHO’s six indicators for International Safe Communities.”

This part:

“5.  Evaluation measures to assess their programs, processes and the affects of change.”

That’s an impressive trick considering Brampton Safe City spent zero on “Program Evaluation” in 2007.

And that’s zero spent for “Program Evaluation” despite the November 17, 1994 (Youth) Community Summit – Final Report Peel Police Services Board’s Recommendation 1 that:

“A process of accountability and evaluation should be built into programs to ensure achievement of goals and cost-effectiveness.”

1994 people and “a process of accountability and evaluation” built into either Safe City Brampton and Safe City Mississauga initiatives remains ZERO. Instead, citizens of Brampton and Mississauga are showered with Safe City celebrations trumpeting crime-prevention successes (mostly fabricated).

Simple arithmetic.  $199, 627 plus about $397,000 and you’re talking 600-thou right there.

And plus there’s the funding/expenses of the parallel Peel Youth Violence Prevention Network Initiative (think Safe Region Peel). How much money for that? I haven’t a clue. But I do know how much is committed to “a process of accountability and evaluation”. Zip.

I look at the combined $600,000 of Safe City Brampton and Safe City Mississauga and I remember being told that a Peel Regional Police officer (equipment/car) costs $110,000. That $600,000 for those two Safe City programs would get us four fully-equipped Peel Police officers —and the cars for them to ride in on.

And there’d still be $150,000 plus left over.

And forgive me but that’s the part I don’t get. I’ve tried and tried and tried to understand why Brampton and Mississauga have these Safe City programs at the cost of four Peel Regional Police officers that could be Youth officers —and I mean real Youth advocates.

The way I see it citizens are paying a lot for Safe City Pretends.

So why not hire four new Youth-dedicated police officers instead, and have both cities continue to Pretend and Celebrate Successes —only this time it won’t cost us as much. It’s logical. It’s easy.

I’ve sat in on enough of this Safe City Pretend to even draft a Bogus Celebrate Success on the Fly. Watch this! (Fill in the blanks, multiple choice)

Safe City (Brampton/Mississauga) in partnership with City of (Brampton/Mississauga) Safe City, Peel Regional Police, Peel District School Board, Dufferin-Peel School Board, United Way Peel and the Peel Youth Violence Prevention Network announces once again our (phenomenal, outstanding) progress in our youth support strategies, community empowerment initiatives, and neighbourhood hub-network restructuring protocols. Our dedicated team of (professionals, volunteers Other_______________ ) have worked tirelessly to ensure that all (children, youth, families) enjoy our (superior, world-class, cutting edge) services. Above all we are singularly committed to providing (phenomenal, outstanding, exemplary) and seamless care for our young people. After all, they are Our Future!

See? I knocked off a Safe City press release in five minutes! And I fabricated all of it with complete confidence because I know precisely how difficult it is for anyone to prove otherwise even with Freedom of Information. How hard is that? Five minutes!

If you’re not going to commit to Authentic Accountability then don’t spend 600-thou!

Sorry. But I just don’t get municipalities. It’s like trying to understand a non-carbon-based alien life-form. I can’t tell you how many times each day I read some Freedom of Information document and go “WTF”?!

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhh…

That’s it for now. Just howlin’ into the cold void of the Internet breezes… and my world not making any sense.

Signed,

The Mississauga Muse

"IT'S NOT FASCISM WHEN WE DO IT" (Local government HYPOCRISY. A major Root of Youth Violence)

Nahh, that image is too foreboding.

I need a fun pic to cheer me up…

GRAFFITI "SMILE IF YOU'RE NOT WEARING UNDERWEAR" CITY OF BRAMPTON JANUARY 22, 2010

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Comments

2 Responses to “Safe City Mississauga $199, 627 (2010), Safe City Brampton $397,108 (2007) –Peel Police officer/equipment/car $110,000”

  1. The Mississauga Muse on January 26th, 2010 8:59 am

    THIS COMMENT WAS POSTED OVER AT OUR MIRROR BLOG AT THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS BY Canadians.

    Shut it down is a reasonable solution

    It doesn’t add up on any level so it should be shut down. Community policing directly in our high schools was a well-received strategy when it was put in place in the 90s….. then chopped.

  2. The Mississauga Muse on January 26th, 2010 9:01 am

    THIS COMMENT IS MY RESPONSE TO Canadians AND WAS POSTED OVER AT OUR MIRROR BLOG AT THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS.

    “chopped”? I’m not sure what you mean

    Hi Canadians. You said community policing in our high schools was chopped. I’m not sure what you mean by that. You mean taken away at some time? The reason I ask is that Peel Region has committed Peel police officers into high schools and even in some of the middle schools now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting this out of concern for school safety. But rather for students to actually know (and perhaps bond with) one youth-skilled police officer. Peel just hired a new Youth Coordinator (detective rank) and man, these Safe City programs are there primarily to get funding to keep themselves going. Meaning their main time goes into writing up proposals for $$$. And zero evaluation. I’ve sat in on Peel Police Services Board meetings. They use Science. Data. Stats. And they analyze it. I’ve found that unique, I’m sorry to say. And I can’t understand why there’s all this waste on Safe City committees. Just give the money directly to Police and let them together with both school boards, figure out how best to direct their energies. Why it’s not happening is one HUGE itch on me. ‘Cuz I don’t get why it isn’t.

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