A long awaited program aimed at reducing property crime in the city is finally ready.
Business Watch, while not unique to Burnaby, offers business owners in the city up-to-date crime information, alerts, workshops, tips, resources and more. The idea of expanding the Business Watch program was floated around at a public safety committee in March, but Burnaby RCMP Chief Supt. Dave Critchley questioned whether it was worth expanding considering how many volunteer hours were required to get businesses to sign up.
(A typical Business Watch program requires businesses to sign-up to receive crime alerts and information.)
But the new pilot program doesn’t need volunteers because it’s web-based.
Interested business owners can find all they need on the City of Burnaby’s website. Everything from crime trend maps to info about upcoming seminars and workshops is available online. There’s also a list of frequently asked questions, crime prevention tips for businesses and information on how and when to report concerns or crimes to police.
“By increasing awareness and providing the business community with strategic information in a timely way, we all benefit,” Critchley said in a media release. "We want business owners to work with us and at the same time use the latest information provided by Business Watch to develop good security habits.”
The pilot project was developed by Burnaby RCMP’s crime prevention unit. For more information, contact programs coordinator Susan Salame at 604-294-7508 or email [email protected].
To check out the new platform, visit www.burnaby.ca/City-Services/Public-Safety and click on “Programs” and from there click on “Business Watch.”
