The Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA), the City of Victoria and the Victoria Police Department (VicPD) have announced their partnership on two initiatives to strengthen the downtown core.
The initiatives encourage neighbours to look out for neighbours, foster connections with downtown businesses and make the city a safer place.
The DVBA Good Neighbour program hopes to foster strong connections between downtown businesses and city residents. “Scrub Up” cleaning events will occur throughout the city as well as other programs to assist businesses with their security measures.
The partnership is also happy to announce their new VicPD Block Watch initiative.
The Block Watch encourages Victoria businesses and residents to work together to be the eyes and ears of their community.
People are encouraged to report any suspicious and criminal activity they observe to the police and each other, as well as share downtown business and residence-specific crime prevention tips and tools.
Once registered, businesses and residences participating in the Block Watch program will receive a street sign for their block, as well as a membership sticker to display in their establishment’s window.
The City of Victoria will be providing funding for the DVBA Good Neighbour Program, and will be supporting the VicPD Block Watch.
For more information about VicPD Block Watch and to join VicPD Block Watch please contact: Kimberly Kelley at blockwatch@vicpd.ca.
