What can a suburban apartment complex in Toronto’s east end teach rural Alberta about crime prevention?

That public safety requires active residents, motivated to create a better community, said Scott McKean, manager of community safety and wellbeing at the City of Toronto.

McKean was a speaker at the Provincial Rural Crime Watch symposium in Lacombe last weekend, sharing the story of Mornelle Court, a community of high rises that had been the site of a turf war shooting.

In the aftermath, residents gathered to talk about their concerns. Chief among them: children’s safety as they walked to school.

So neighbourhood mothers, outfitted with fluorescent yellow vests and walkie-talkies, started a safe walk program to escort them to class. As a result of their presence, the drug dealers left the area, McKean said.

Soon, more parents wanted in, offering their help, whether it was to start an afterschool program or to fundraise for a cause.

“It generated excitement and other community members and other parents and got engaged in our community. It also builds a stronger relationship between the school and community, and police services and the community, and the city and the community,” McKean said.

The safe walk program evolved into the formation of a space where social service providers could connect with the community.

McKean said the story of Mornelle Court demonstrates what happens when people get together to think of different solutions to crime. The role of politicians and leaders is to listen and facilitate, he said.

“Come together and share your experience with other residents. Share your ideas with other residents because that’s what’s going to create the energy to do something different. This kind of crime prevention or community safety wellbeing is about change … The culture of crime has changed in rural communities but … the response by people hasn’t necessarily changed as fast.”

He added that heavy policing alone is not a solution.

“The community safety and wellbeing aspect is all about the social determinants of health, how poverty, addictions and mental health and all these other things manifest into crime. By having integrated approaches, we can deal with those.”