Safer Parking Initiative comes to Edmonton

News Release
Safer Parking Initiative comes to Edmonton
The Safer Parking Initiative (SPI) today unveiled the first parking facilities to earn the Safer Parking Award in Edmonton.

Neighbourhood Empowerment Team (NET), along with Edmonton Police Service (EPS), Vancouver Police Department, and Canadian Direct Insurance joined forces to bring the program to Edmonton and honoured the two parkades, which have been examined by Police and are deemed to meet criteria that deter criminal activity and anti-social behaviour.

The Safer Parking Award indicates that a parking facility is a safer place to park, compared to facilities in the same area that have not made the same effort to prevent crime and reduce the fear of crime.

The award-winning lots announced today:

Main on Whyte, 10358 82 AV-North alley entrance (managed by Diamond)
University Hospital – East Parkade, 8304 112 ST (managed by Alberta Health Services)
The program has been operating in Vancouver since 2008 with success in reducing crime in and around parking lots.

“The Safer Parking Initiative’s success in reducing crime in Vancouver is a key factor in the desire to expand the program to Edmonton,” says Inspector Scott Thompson with the Vancouver Police Department. “The initiative has also been successful in enhancing overall safety in participating parking lots across Vancouver. We look forward to sharing this program and working with Edmonton Police Service.”

Connie Marciniuk, Community Capacity Builder with the Queen Alexandra NET, and her police partner Constable John Beatson came across the Vancouver-based program when researching ways to reduce thefts from vehicles.

“Theft from vehicles accounted for 36 percent of all crime in Southwest Division and 31 percent city-wide in 2013,” says Beatson. “We know from experience that many thefts happen in parking lots because it’s a target rich environment, and we also know that in a lot of cases it happens because people leave their doors open, providing a perfect opportunity for thieves.”

Canadian Direct Insurance and the Vancouver Police Department manage the Safer Parking Initiative that assesses the safety of parking facilities and grants awards to facilities that meet regulatory safety standards. The program’s mandate is to improve the reality and perception of safety and security in parking facilities through co-operative action with police, the parking industry, businesses, citizen groups and consumers; and through policies and procedures that sustain or improve the profitability of parking facilities.

Canadian Direct Insurance, a partner of the Safer Parking Initiative and key to bringing the program to Vancouver, is similarly supporting the expansion in Edmonton.

“The Safer Parking Initiative has reduced crime in awarded lots by 47 per cent in Vancouver and has been successful in getting various stakeholders together to improve parking safety. We are excited to now expand the program to Edmonton,” says Colin Brown, Chief Operating Officer of Canadian Direct Insurance, whose organization sponsors the initiative in Vancouver and the pilot in Edmonton. “We have an interest in reducing auto break-ins and improving the safety of parking lots for the benefit of the public, and we are looking forward to this multi-faceted partnership in Edmonton to bring similar benefits to the community.”

Seven police officers and six civilians participated in a one-day SPI training course on Thursday, May 22. The participants are now fully qualified to assess and certify parking lots.

For more information, please visit http://www.saferparkingedmonton.com.