Crime prevention is the hot topic in downtown businesses this month.
Okotoks municipal enforcement (OME) practicum student Dakota Zurowski led the charge in an information campaign to bring businesses tips and tricks to avoid being victims of crime.
“The feedback so far has been positive,” said Zurowski. “Everyone seems to be liking us being out there and asking if they need help from us, rather than them reaching out to us first. It’s been positive in that aspect.”
A graduate of Foothills Composite High School, Zurowski has been studying criminal justice at Lethbridge College and worked with municipal enforcement to do her last practicum at home.
Officer Peter Stapley arranged for the practicum when Zurowksi took a ride-along with local officers last year and expressed her interest in working closer to home for the four-month learning experience portion of her program.
“We have traditionally had practicum with Mount Royal University and we take two students for winter, summer and fall terms,” said Stapley. “We were able to make arrangements as a pilot project to do a practicum with Lethbridge College, which is more hours than Mount Royal.”
At Mount Royal, students are limited to 280 hours over the semester, which amounts to about two or three days per week, he said. Zurowski is currently putting in 32-hour weeks.
The additional time allowed her to take on a more extensive outreach project. Zurowski created a two-sided pamphlet highlighting ways business owners and employees can discourage criminal activity at their locations.
“She’s visiting every business and handing out the pamphlets, finding out their concerns, talking to them, finding out if there’s anything we can do for them,” said Stapley. “And she’s going with the RCMP as well, to help show that partnership.”
Zurowski took on a similar role during her time in Sylvan Lake, so this was a good opportunity to expand the idea. She’s heard a lot of questions from Okotoks business owners as she’s made the rounds, especially in light of break-ins and a bear-spray incident at local cellphone retailers in recent months.
One of her most common suggestions is to engage with customers on a meaningful level, being aware of what customers are doing in the store and amping up the customer service and attention for those who may appear to be doing something wrong or have ill intentions.
“We also offer Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED),” said Zurowski. “Peace officers are trained in that, and they’ll go in and do evaluations of the store and give recommendations to make their businesses safer and prevent more crimes.”
Stapley said OME has two officers trained in CPTED. They will visit businesses free-of-charge to check out things like the layout of a store, hidden corners, lighting, exits, and other criteria that may make a store more or less attractive to criminals.
So far, they’ve only been asked to do a couple of evaluations and some presentations, he said.
“We want to let people know we offer that service for free and we have two officers who do it,” said Stapley.
Having Zurowski take the information to businesses has been a win-win, he said. She’s getting to interface with the public and has been invited to speak to the Olde Towne Okotoks group about business crime prevention.
“I feel that by working with her, she’s getting just as much out of the program as we are and it’s just nice to be able to invest back into the future with the youth and the students,” said Stapley.
