New program to focus more attention on apartments more

Prince George Community Policing is bringing a program aimed at reducing crime in apartment buildings to the city.
The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program is designed to help building owners and managers improve security features and tenant screening, Community Policing coordinator Dianne Sears said. In addition, the program aims to engage tenants in creating safe communities.
Buildings which complete all three phases of the program receive a plaque certifying them as Crime Free Multi-Housing.
“One of the first phases we will do is take them (building managers) through a day-long workshop,” Sears said.
“We’re bringing up a speaker from Canada Post to talk to them about how to better secure their mailboxes. We have a local locksmithing company talking about the kinds of locks they need on their buildings and individual units.”
The conference, slated for May 13, will also feature a speaker from the Residential Tenancy Board speaking about screening applicants and what to do about problem tenants, she said.
“They need to screen their tenants better. Part of the screening process is confirming the information they’ve been given,” Sears said.
“In the Lower Mainland they do a credit check on people… to ensure they can afford to pay. That is part of due diligence.”
The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program has been in place in New Westminster in the Lower Mainland since 1995. According to the New Westminister Police Service, they receive 20 to 70 per cent less calls from buildings once they’ve been Crime Free certified.
A study done by the New Westminster Police of data from 2000 to 2004 showed participating buildings averaged 1.89 calls to the police per apartment unit over five years. Non-participating buildings averaged 3.8 calls per apartment unit over the same timeframe.
In phase two of the program, Community Policing coordinators will do a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design audit of the buildings, Sears said. The audit will identify any improvements which need to be made to the buildings and parking lots to improve safety.
Once those items are completed to the auditors satisfaction, the building can move on to phase three.
“The last phase of the program is for the owners to have a ‘safety social’ with the tenants,” she explained. “It’s about taking ownership of the space that you live in.”
Owners and tenants are encourage to develop a local network, much like the Block Watch program, to be alert to illegal activity in the building.
To maintain their certification, owners must host an annual safety meeting each year, she said.
Community Policing has spoken with hundreds of building owners and managers in the city and are hoping for 30 to 40 to come out for the first workshop.
“It’s going to be an ongoing thing. We hope to do two-three workshops a year,” she added.
Forest Glen Apartments owner Carol-Anne Uegama said she is excited to see the program come to Prince George.
“I own an apartment complex in the Lower Mainland that is Crime Free Multi-Housing certified. The program is a great benefit to owners and managers of apartments, and provides residents with choices in living in a crime-and-drug-free environment,” Uegama said in a press release.
For more information, call Prince George Community Policing at 561-3366 or go online to www.communitypolicing.princegeorge.ca.