Safety session aims to provide tips and solutions to the concerns of Oakville residents

As for safe places to live in the province, Oakville and Halton Region are right up there.

Of the big 12 communities in Ontario, Statistics Canada lists Halton Region as the safest.

Still, crime happens and as always, it’s a concern for residents.

“If you’ve been broken into, if your car has been stolen, it doesn’t matter what the stats say,” says Oakville Ward 3 Councillor Dave Gittings. “It still affects you and your family.”

Addressing those concerns is important, which is why Gittings and fellow Ward 3 Councillor Janet Haslett-Theall are hosting a virtual Community Safety webinar on Wednesday, October 16, 2024

The safety session will look to help address rising concerns about crime and community across Oakville and discuss solutions. The Halton Regional Police Service will be on hand to provide crime deterrence tips and highlight the force’s efforts to support the community.

The session will also feature representatives from all levels of government including Oakville MP Anita Anand, MPP Stephen Crawford, and Oakville Mayor Rob Burton.

“We receive a lot of questions from our residents that are obviously concerned,” said Gittings of the reason for the webinar. “Whether it be break-ins, car thefts, or a number of different issues, people have questions.

“Councillor Haslett-Theall and I thought it would be important to get representatives of the various levels of government together because it’s not just one level.”

Discussions for crimes like car thefts will even include what difference car manufacturers make.

“How can they make it more difficult to steal,” said Gittings.

“We just wanted to provide an opportunity for people to attend, ask their questions, and hear from various people,” he added.

A similar event was held by the two Oakville councillors at a local church in February.

“When we organized this one, we heard from people across the whole town saying, ‘What about us?’” said Gittings. “We spoke to the mayor and decided to make it community-wide so anybody can follow along. It’s being recorded, so people who can’t attend we can send the link to watch it.”

The Halton Police Board’s 2024-2027 Strategic Plan, which was approved earlier this year, will guide the priorities of the Halton police over the next four years.

In the plan, driven by community input, Halton residents were asked to rank the five greatest threats they believed were a threat to the community.

The response was:

• Property Crime (82 percent) especially vehicle thefts and break-and-enters
• Social Issues and Public Order (81 percent) especially traffic safety and mental health
• Financial Crime (52 percent) especially fraud and cybercrime
• Violent Crime (46 percent) especially violence against women/intimate partner violence and car-jacking
• Organized Crime (32 percent) especially human trafficking/child exploitation and drugs

Key priorities in the Strategic Plan by police include measurable goals such as reducing property crime rates per capita and achieving a 50 percent reduction in auto theft through partnerships and collaboration.

That car thefts are one of the bigger concerns is no surprise to Gittings.

“It certainly has, and they disappear quickly,” said Gittings. “They end up in a container. A lot of them end up in the Port of Montreal, and they’re gone overseas within a couple of days.

“It’s not an Oakville problem, it’s across Canada. It’s happening everywhere.”

Whatever concerns residents, councillors hear about it.

“We receive calls from residents every day and for some people, it’s that some people have noisy cars, are speeding up and down the street,” said Gittings. “For others, it’s the cars that don’t stop at the stop sign or it’s people littering in the park. There are different issues that affect different people in different ways.”

Drugs, he said, are always a concern.

“Trafficking is always a concern for every municipality in Ontario that is on a major highway,” said Gittings.

There are also fake grandmother/grandfather schemes, where people are told their grandchild is in trouble and are asked to send money to get them out.

LCBO thefts and fake renovation frauds where work is promised and the renovation is never completed.

“The creativity is amazing in terms of some of the things that are occurring,” he said of plans to cheat people out of their money.

Like residents, police officers, councillors, and all who live in Oakville want a safe community we can raise our families.

Gittings hopes residents will take the time to go online, watch the meeting, and ask questions. Take part, in what he says, is an important meeting.

“We live in the area we serve,” he said. “I’ve got grandchildren in the area close by to us. We’re members of the community. We see it. We feel it. We deal with it every day.”

Residents are encouraged to register today and submit questions they want to be answered. To register for the event and submit a question, visit here.