Community Safety Initiative
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PWC Works projects reflect our commitment of striving for exceptional customer service, maximizing operational efficiencies, increasing modernization, providing excellent service delivery, and collaborating with the community for a coordinated response that achieves the best possible outcomes for our residents and the overall wellbeing of the county.
What is the Community Safety Initiative?
The Community Safety Initiative (CSI) was introduced in December 2022. CSI was created out of a recognition that the community safety challenges we face have grown increasingly more complex and we need solutions that are more significantly driven by resident engagement, data and collaboration.
The CSI program includes all aspects of community safety and all stakeholders in the safety ecosystem. The program is particularly focused on prevention and intervention strategies which address the underlying factors influencing safety outcomes in our community.
Office of Community Safety
The Office of Community Safety (OCS) is responsible for implementing the Community Safety Initiative. The mission of the OCS is to cultivate a safe and healthy Prince William County through engagement, collaboration and evidence-based strategies.
The OCS has established a Community Safety Advisory Committee (CSAC). This group of citizens and stakeholders will assist in gathering constituent input, identifying key strategic priorities, developing action plans, and assessing safety-related data.
The effective growth and development of the CSI will be dependent on improving how we leverage data for effective action and transparency. The OCS will be working on creating data dashboards, which will better inform both our residents and our decision-making.
The OCS team has scheduled citizen listening sessions throughout Prince William County to better understand the perspectives of our residents on safety concerns, to include:
- Transportation and Pedestrian Safety
- Mental Health and Wellness
- Youth Support and Safety
- Aging and Emergency Services
These sessions will evolve to include additional topics over time.
The OCS is uniquely positioned to build connections in our community and break down silos between agencies to optimize service delivery for our citizens. OCS will be developing a Coordinated Community Safety Response (CCSR) program to improve resident access and communication, better coordinate responding agencies and partners, and effectively manage community safety problem solving. Please see the Community Panhandling Response Initiative as an example of how Coordinated Community Safety Response works.
Community violence intervention (CVI) is an important part of our CCSR program. CVI is generally described as violence committed between unrelated individuals, who may or may not know each other, generally outside the home. Examples include assaults or fights among groups and shootings in public places.
Through a state grant and funding approved by the Board of County Supervisors for technical assistance, the OCS will be accelerating our CVI work. We have a CVI specialist starting later this month (October 2024), and the technical assistance will help us tailor strategies to meet our very specific community needs. These strategies could include approaches such as identifying high-risk individuals, using credible messengers to intervene in disputes, prevention services, and focused enforcement and accountability.