A multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to community safety and security on campus

As our campus has grown and evolved, so too has the approach of our Community Safety and Security team. The team focuses on a community-centric approach that reflects the realities of the local environment and includes partnerships and innovative solutions to support the well-being and safety of our community.

“University campuses like ours are open to the public along with our community,” says Denise Campbell, executive director, Community Safety and Security. “As city builders, we recognize our responsibility to help address some of the issues that are impacting our downtown location, where street-involved individuals access services and resources. That’s why we’ve developed key partnerships with agencies in the neighbourhood - it's a community-centric approach that focuses on service and referrals and contributes towards building the resilience of the area.” 

SORT Pilot Project

In Spring 2022, Community Safety and Security’s Community Engagement team launched the Strategic Outreach and Response Team (SORT) pilot project to engage community agencies in partnership to collaboratively address the challenges in the area.

This pilot provides a mechanism for the SORT team and our partners to interact with both the TMU and greater downtown community, engaging in outreach walks, neighbourhood partnerships, training seminars, safety planning, security occurrence follow-ups and projects. 

At the same time, the Community Safety and Security team also provides additional support, including emergency medical response, administering Naloxone and de-escalating potentially violent situations.

An orientation to support services and referral allows the Community Safety and Security team to proactively contribute to addressing challenges in the area.

Key community partnerships

Some of our partnerships are service oriented while others involve contributing to problem solving with city agencies or advocating to politicians in the municipal and provincial government. Here are a few highlights of our most productive partnerships.

Covenant House

Over the past two years, Community Safety and Security has worked in partnership with Covenant House, which supports youth who are homeless, trafficked or at risk. Outreach workers from both Community Safety and Security and Covenant House talk to youth, providing service and referral where needed as well as reminding them to be good neighbours on our campus. The partnership also includes an overview of educational pathways for youth who are homeless.

Downtown Yonge BIA (DYBIA)

The DYBIA has a community outreach team that liaises with Community Safety and Security to support street-involved individuals who need services. In addition, their team also provides training to Community Safety and Security staff.

Streets to Homes

Community Safety and Security works closely with the outreach workers from Streets to Homes (S2H), which is a City of Toronto funded program that provides street outreach and housing-related follow-up support to assist people who are experiencing unhoused and sleeping outdoors in finding and keeping housing.

Toronto Police Service

TPS and Community Safety and Security have an excellent working relationship supporting each to improve community safety.  The TPS Neighbourhood Community Officer Program complements Community Safety and Security services that include:

• patrols and engagement with the community 24/7
• responses to emergencies and provision of emergency medical assistance;
• accompanying campus members as part of the Community Safety and Security’s WalkSafe program; and
• performing safety patrols on foot and by bike in and around the campus’ 52 buildings.

Toronto Public Health

Community Safety and Security patrols twice a week with Toronto Public Health outreach workers to identify needs and support community members struggling with addiction. 

Participating in community tables working with external stakeholders 

Community Safety and Security  has a representative at five different community tables that are designed to share expertise and information and problem solve recurring issues in the area.  These tables include: 

• Downtown East Leadership Table 
• Bond Place Community Liaison Committee 
• Bond Street Shelter Security and Outreach Table 
• Furthering Our Communities by United Services (FOCUS)
• Downtown East Justice Centre Committee
• Toronto Police Service - 51 Division Community Liaison Committee

Providing a range of services to meet our community needs

Ultimately, this holistic and multidisciplinary approach has led to multiple benefits to our TMU and broader community, including: 

• rapid-response support and crisis intervention for non-violent crisis situations
• a continuum of care through case management with partnerships
• teams are able to provide trauma-informed care
• when possible, it allows for non-uniform response for reports of sexual violence

At Toronto Metropolitan University, we’re proud to be city builders, committed to working to enhance the resilience of the neighbourhood in which we are located. Supporting the well-being of our surrounding community aligns with the university’s values including well-being and mutual respect. To learn more about how Community Safety and Security supports our campus, visit the Community Engagement information on the Community Safety and Security webpage.