London and Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH) provides Community Safety Services through our Community Safety Unit (CSU) as well as contracted services providers.
Community Safety Unit (CSU)
The CSU is comprised of the Security Manager and Community Safety Specialists (CSS). The CSU's mandate comes from LMCH’s mission to provide and maintain housing in a safe and supportive environment to meet the needs of the people we serve in our communities. Community Safety Specialists are dedicated to the safety and security of all our tenants, visitors, staff, contractors, and community partners.
Community Safety Specialists are licensed security professionals who are highly trained to respond to a variety of situations. Community Safety Specialists are a uniformed mobile response team who also conduct proactive patrols of all LMCH communities. These proactive patrols allow them to effectively build relationships and trust with all tenants, Police, and other community partners.
Members of the CSU have knowledge of, and the ability to effectively apply, building and fire safety standards, municipal by-laws, and related legislation such as Criminal Code of Canada, Residential Tenancies Act, Tenant Protection Act, Trespass to Property Act, Mental Health Act, Controlled Drugs and Substance Act and the Liquor License Act.
Members of the CSU also investigate parking violations and abandoned vehicles on LMCH properties; they issue parking violation warnings or by-law tickets, and under certain circumstances, may authorize the towing of vehicles off LMCH properties. See the Parking Enforcement section for more details.
The CSU works closely with the Tenant Services and Property Services teams. The CSU works closely with Tenant Services Team Leads, Managers as well as Community Relations Workers to collaboratively identify, and mitigate, safety and security concerns. The CSU works closely with law enforcement agencies for investigative and emergency response incidents as well as and other community partners by collaborating on special projects.
Contracted Security Services
LMCH has agreements with several companies to provide security services in some of our communities. The uniformed licensed security professionals provide a number of security services in including security patrols and fire watch.
Community Outreach
The Community Safety Unit (CSU) partners with London Crime Stoppers to leverage its network of corporate sponsors and expertise in developing education and awareness programs. The CSU is working with London Crime Stoppers to develop programs specific to London and Middlesex Community Housing’s needs.
This partnership is being rolled out to all LMCH communities. The program includes:
- Education on Crime Stoppers at community meetings
- Youth outreach activities
- Installation of high-impact Crime Stoppers signage and distribution of public awareness materials
Call Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or Text CRIMES (274637) keyword “tip252” to share information that help police solve a crime.
Always call 9-1-1 in an emergency such as a fire, a crime in progress or a medical emergency.
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
Through its revitalization programs, London and Middlesex Community Housing applies Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles when undertaking major capital repairs or redevelopment projects. CPTED is an approach to planning and development that focuses on reducing opportunities for crime. Communities, neighbourhoods, individual homes, and other buildings are made safer through the application of design principles that make it more difficult to carry out negative activities.
This includes ensuring communities are street-connected and accessible from multiple points in their surrounding neighbourhoods. As well, pedestrian walkways and roads through the sites are designed to be well-lit and passively supervised from homes with generous windows and porches, providing improved eyes on the street.
Community Safety Unit Contact Information:
Community Safety Specialists
Contact Number: 519-434-2765
Email: communitysafetyunit [at] lmhc.ca
Security Manager
Phone: 519.434.2765 Ext. 292
Email: bporter [at] lmhc.ca
** Always call 9-1-1 in an emergency such as a fire, a crime in progress or a medical emergency.
