10 Million Fund Puts Community Safety First : Mike Baird
Communities will be able to fight crime at a grass roots level with a $10 million Community Safety Fund that aims to stamp out anti-social behaviour.A re-elected Baird government will call on community and local business groups to nominate crime fighting projects in their neighbourhoods as part of its $10 million Community Safety Fund.
Premier Mike Baird said the NSW Liberal & Nationals Government had delivered important crime and justice reforms across the state, making NSW a safer place to
live.“Under our government NSW’s crime statistics are now the best on record with all major crime categories having fallen or remained stable, but there is more we can
do, especially at a grass roots level,” Mr Baird said.
“Everyone has a right to feel safe in their own local area and one of the great things about our state is the sense of community and pride in our neighbourhoods.” The NSW Community Safety Fund will provide up to $250,000 grants to non-government or not-for-profit organisations, community groups, chambers of commerce and businesses to build safer and more harmonious communities.
Mr Hazzard said the Community Safety Fund will include monies drawn from the NSW Proceeds of Crime Fund. “I believe the community will welcome the fact that criminals ill-gotten gains will be put to good use in tackling local crime hot spots and anti- social behaviour,’’ he said.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services Stuart Ayres said the Fund will give communities the opportunity to make a difference. “I encourage all communities to bring us ideas on how they think they can benefit from this fund. It could be anything from monitored CCTV, campaigns to reduce stealing from motor vehicles, funding for improvements such as fencing or lighting and initiatives to reduce anti-social behaviour in public places,” Mr Ayres said.
The Community Safety Fund will support projects that:
- Address local crime hot spots;
- Address anti-social behaviour in communities;
- Promote safe and inclusive use of public space;
- Promote collaborative approaches to community safety and crime reduction, prevention and detection initiatives.
Member for Coogee Bruce Notley-Smith said local communities understand their area better than anyone and know where funds should be targeted. “This is empowering communities to make a real difference at a grass-roots level,” he said.
The Deputy Director of the Designing Out Crime Research Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney Rodger Watson, said the Community Safety Fund was another example of the NSW Government’s commitment to leading innovation in crime prevention.
“This initiative empowers community groups to think about what local factors are behind crime in their area, and then to create local solutions. “Taking an action oriented approach of this scale is truly world leading.”