National Crime Prevention Centre

The National Crime Prevention Centre's (NCPC) work provides national leadership on effective and cost-effective ways to prevent and reduce crime by intervening on the risk factors before crime happens. Our approach is to promote the implementation of effective crime prevention practices.

Mission

NCPC mission is to provide national leadership on effective and cost-efficient ways to both prevent and reduce crime by addressing known-risk factors in high risk populations and places.

Core Activities

The NCPC concentrates on two core activities: supporting targeted interventions and building and sharing practical knowledge.

Principles

The NCPC's principles are that, to produce optimum results, crime prevention interventions should: be integrated with the activities of other programs and services, build on the knowledge of known risk and protective factors and use evidence-based practices, be focussed on specific priorities, and be measurable.

  1. Integration
    In Canada, many services and programs contribute to creating safer communities. Government and non-government organizations, police and correctional services all have strategies and programs to reduce crime. Programs implemented by schools or health services, sports and culture, also contribute, in varying ways, to helping children and youth keep out of trouble.
    • Since its inception in 1998, the NCPC has collaborated with key partners at the local, provincial, territorial, and international level to address the factors that put individuals at risk. We need to strengthen partnerships across all sectors and systematically integrate crime prevention with enforcement, corrections and other relevant interventions.
  2. Evidence-led efforts
    In the past decade, knowledge of successful crime prevention has grown considerably. The NCPC identifies successful interventions and the conditions of their adaptation to local needs and conditions. Supporting e vidence-based practices promotes effective crime prevention.
  3. Focussed action
    Our focus is on specific priorities, established in partnership with key stakeholders and on the basis of analysis of key crime trends. Our priorities are to:
    • address early risk factors among vulnerable families and children and youth at risk;
    • respond to priority crime issues (youth gangs, drug-related crime);
    • prevent recidivism among high risk groups; and
    • foster prevention in Aboriginal communities.
  4. Measurable results
    Projects supported by the NCPC must have the potential to demonstrate the extent to which risk factors are addressed, how the approach chosen is based on evidence of what works and whether these are efficient means to reduce crime.

Partnerships

To effectively reduce and prevent crime it takes many people and organizations working together and using a variety of approaches. In Canada, many services and programs contribute to safer communities and they are implemented by a network of partners, including government, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.

The NCPC's partners in reducing and preventing crime include:

Provincial and territorial governments

The provinces and territories are key partners in the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS). Provinces and Territories are in the best position to identify the groups, issues and places of highest priority for crime prevention investments within their jurisdictions. They identify organizations that can deliver interventions for crime prevention. They add their expertise to the development of effective projects, and the integration of crime prevention efforts. The continued collaboration between the provinces, territories and the NCPC is essential to the effective implementation of the NCPS.

The Federal/Provincial/Territorial (F/P/T) Working Group on Crime Prevention provides a forum for collaboration and coordination of community safety and crime prevention activities undertaken through the NCPS.

The F/P/T Working Group advises F/P/T ministers responsible for justice portfolios on the development of community safety and crime prevention policies and programs. As well, the Group shares information on initiatives relating to community safety and crime prevention efforts.

Federal departments and agencies

Many federal departments and agencies contribute – either directly or indirectly – to crime prevention. The NCPC works with the following organizations to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to crime reduction and prevention:

Public Safety Canada
The NCPC is part of Public Safety Canada. The Department provides strategic policy advice to the Minister of Public Safety in areas such as national security, emergency management, border security, policing, corrections and conditional release, and national law enforcement. It also delivers a broad range of national emergency preparedness, critical infrastructure protection and community safety programs.

Within the Department, the NCPC works in collaboration with the Aboriginal Corrections Policy Unit, Aboriginal Policing Directorate, as well as the Policing, Law Enforcement and Interoperability Branch.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
As Canada's national police service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has a critical role to play in crime prevention efforts across Canada. The RCMP provides knowledge and assistance on crime prevention to communities and practical advice on the groups, issues, and places where focused crime prevention interventions are most needed.

The RCMP Crime Prevention initiative is part of the National Crime Prevention Strategy. It has increased crime prevention partnerships and community involvement in communities across Canada. The crime prevention initiative stresses a balanced approach to community crime concerns. It focuses on the police role in crime prevention to help the most vulnerable communities and populations and it continues to identify youth as a priority both as victims and offenders.

Correctional Service of Canada
The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is a key part of the criminal justice system and contributes to public safety by encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens.

The NCPC works closely with CSC, supporting interventions that prevent recidivism among high risk groups and add to the knowledge about what works to prevent re-offending.

The Department of Justice Canada
The Department of Justice Canada is responsible for providing policy and program advice and direction through the development of the legal content of bills, regulations and guidelines. It is responsible for litigating civil cases by or on behalf of the federal Crown, and for providing legal advice to federal law enforcement agencies and other government departments.

The Department of Justice Canada strives to achieve its policy objectives through a number of program initiatives designed to provide a fair, effective, efficient and accessible justice system.

Several of these program initiatives are intimately tied to crime prevention efforts – including Aboriginal justice, criminal law policy, family violence, and youth justice. The NCPC works closely with the Department of Justice Canada in the areas of helping youth at-risk, as well as preventing and intervening with youth gangs.

Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) is a division of Statistics Canada. The CCJS is the focal point of a federal, provincial, and territorial partnership for the collection of information on the nature and extent of crime and the administration of civil and criminal justice in Canada.

The CCJS and NCPC have worked together on providing analyses of city and neighbourhood crime patterns and distribution. This data is critical to identifying the places where crime prevention investments are most needed and to better focus interventions for greatest effectiveness.

Canadian Heritage
Canadian Heritage is responsible for national policies and programs that ensure that all Canadians have the opportunity to participate in Canada's cultural and civic life.

The NCPC and Canadian Heritage work together to identify and address the factors that can marginalize youth from ethnocultural/racial communities and increase their risk for violence and crime.

Health Canada
Health Canada is the federal department responsible for helping the people of Canada maintain and improve their health.

The NCPC is working with Health Canada to support community-based initiatives aimed at preventing drug-related crimes across Canada. Through this partnership, NCPC supports initiatives that focus on groups at greatest risk of getting involved in substance use/abuse and crime – including at-risk children and youth using substances, juvenile and adult offenders no longer under correctional supervision, and Aboriginal people with drug addictions.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
The mission of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC)is to work together to make Canada a better place for First Nations, Inuit and Northerners.

Reducing crime in Aboriginal communities is important in achieving safer communities. The NCPC is developing relationships with INAC with the aim of better targeting our crime prevention approaches to benefit Aboriginal communities most in need.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) works to build a stronger and more competitive Canada by enabling Canadians to make choices that help them live productive and rewarding lives.

HRSDC provides direct services to many Canadians across the country– more specifically with youth at-risk. By developing working relationships between our organizations, we can help develop 'wrap-around' services for youth on such issues as gang and gun violence.

Other partners

Local police services
The NCPC collaborates with provincial, municipal, and Aboriginal police services to effectively identify and take action with populations and places most in need of crime prevention interventions. Provincial, municipal and Aboriginal police services bring practical experience and knowledge to crime prevention planning and projects. They are involved in gathering and analyzing crime data in their jurisdictions and help to use that information to ensure the most effective crime prevention interventions are undertaken.

Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) is dedicated to the support and promotion of efficient law enforcement and to the protection and security of the people of Canada.

The NCPC has strong ties with the CACP Crime Prevention/Community Policing Committee. This committee provides leadership in promoting a comprehensive, inclusive approach to addressing the root causes of crime and social disorder. Through their work, the CACP Crime Prevention/Community Policing Committee influences and advises on policy and program development in police forces and governments across the country.

Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is the national voice of municipal government. FCM represents the interests of municipalities on policy and program matters that fall within federal jurisdiction. Members include Canada's largest cities, small urban and rural communities, and 18 provincial and territorial municipal associations.

In its 2006-07 policy statement on community safety and crime prevention, the FCM acknowledged that communities were the focal point for effective crime prevention, and that community-based, holistic approaches to combating crime were developed and delivered most effectively through intergovernmental and community-level partnerships.

FCM and NCPC work together to provide municipal leaders with tools and resources to plan, implement and learn from effective crime prevention initiatives in communities large and small across Canada.

History

The development of the National Crime Prevention Strategy began in 1994 following a recommendation of the report of the Standing Committee on Justice and the Solicitor General (Crime Prevention in Canada: toward a National Strategy) The National Crime Prevention Council was established to advance the coordination of crime prevention work in Canada across all levels of government. The work of the Council resulted in a framework for coordinating a range of federal initiatives that emphasized a proactive, social development model for crime prevention in Canada.

In 1998, the National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC) was created to oversee the implementation of the National Crime Prevention Strategy. The NCPC began supporting Canadian communities in undertaking crime prevention activities through its funding programs and the dissemination of crime prevention tools and resources.

The NCPC continues to broaden and strengthen its partnerships and to help communities design and implement effective and cost-effective ways to prevent crime. The NCPC is moving towards a results and evidence-based approach- what works- to crime prevention. Its funding programs and activities are focused on addressing known risk factors associated with crime and violence in high risk populations and places. With this evolution, the approaches to crime prevention have become more evidence-based.

Accountability

The NCPC is accountable through the Public Safety Canada to the Minister of Public Safety and ultimately to all Canadians.

Each year the NCPC contributes to the Public Safety Canada's Report on Plans and Priorities and to the Departmental Performance Report. In addition, the NCPC is guided and its success is measured by a Performance Management Strategy.

The progress of the NCPC has resulted in part from regular evaluation of the Strategy by external evaluators. The NCPC has also learned from formal consultations with partners and stakeholders and from public opinion research.

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