TAKING SAFETY TO THE STREETS

Volunteers Conduct 'Safety Audits' In Crime-Prone Areas

First of 13 Surveys to Look at Neighbourhoods Across City

For years, the area around Kingston and Galloway Rds. in Scarborough
was plagued by the Galloway Boys gang as well as drugs and
prostitution.

Yesterday a different kind of gang, this one armed with pencils and
surveys, set off from Morningside Mall to assess the safety of their
community and how lighting, signs and other features might make it
safer.

The 60 people, who broke off into four groups with each assigned to a
specific area, were part of the Kingston-Galloway-Morningside audit.

It's the first of 13 such audits across the city as the Metropolitan
Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children teams up with
the City of Toronto to assess the safety -- and recommend improvements
- -- in trouble-prone neighbourhoods.

Councillor Gay Cowbourne (Ward 44, Scarborough East) said the police
play an important role in cleaning up the streets but citizens can't
just stand by and watch.

"(The audit) is an opportunity for the community to come together to
voice their concerns and to look for solutions," said Cowbourne, who
took part in the audit.

"We can't just rely on a group of men and women in uniform to do the
job for us. We have a responsibility, as well, as members of a
community to ensure that our community stays safe."

The Galloway Boys gang was broken by a massive arrest of members in
2004.

But nobody is declaring this area trouble-free.

There was a rape last fall in one of the four areas surveyed. Last
year, a body was found last year in another of the neighbourhoods,
said Gordon Mack Scott, a community safety consultant with Toronto
Community Housing.

Residents cite less dramatic, but nevertheless troubling, incidents as
a drawback to living in one of the city's toughest
neighbourhoods.

"You feel uneasy in some situations," said Rhio Gracias, 18, recalling
a walk home from work when he was almost mugged by two men who wanted
marijuana.

Delali Heimann, also 18, said he moved from the Galloway and Kingston
Rds. area to Markham Ave. and Kingston Rd. because his mother thought
the first neighbourhood wasn't safe.

Heimann added: "You could easily be influenced by gangs and get into
drugs."

Councillor David Soknacki (Ward 43, Scarborough East), who also took
part in the audit, said it's important to identify improvements that
can be made to a community to make people feel safer, but the city
can't stop with perception.

"What I see as one of the main purposes of the audit is not only to
deal with the public safety perception, but also to reaffirm the
public space," said Soknacki

Other audits are planned for the Jane-Finch, Malvern, Rexdale and
Flemingdon Park neighbourhoods.

All 13 audits are to be finished by early 2007.