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| Homepage |  | News | | The National "City without Violence" Program extends to 78 cities throughout Israel |
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| The National "City without Violence" Program extends to 78 cities throughout Israel |
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| 21/12/09 |
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In light of the vast success of the "City without Violence" program (CWV) in twelve existing member cities, the Minister of Public Security, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, instructed to transform the program into the ministry's primary tool in the battle against violence and the reinstatement of the sense of security among the citizens of Israel. The program will be extended to an additional 66 cities, which will bring the total number to 78 cities, operating on an annual budget of approximately 60 million NIS.
The CVW program is a national program for confronting all anti-social behavior, violence, delinquency, and crime in local cities.
The goal of the program is toe create a city-wide, coordinated and effective system headed by the Mayor in cooperation with a wide variety of relevant , local authorities in the field. For the past two and a half years, the program was successfully operated in 12 cities, and was funded by the Israel Government, the Ministry of Public Security and the IFCJ.
"What started as a local pilot program turned into a national program which spread rapidly throughout the country" said Minister Aharonovitch, "my hope is that it will be implemented in every city and local authority in Israel. We are still in the midst of achieving the highest level of sense of security for our citizens, but there is no doubt that we are on the right track."
During a recent appeal, 130 cities submitted their application to join the program. The Ministry of Public Security held a tender process after which 66 cities from all sectors in the country will chosen – general, ultra orthodox, non-Jewish and rural. In addition, the new members were chosen while keeping in mind offering solutions to different geographical areas in the country and different Israel Police districts.
Dr. Orli Innes, head of the program's professional staff: "The vision is to create an effective and coordinated team in each city, consisting of the Mayor of the city and other relevant bodies in the field of education and welfare. Alongside installing closed circuit cameras throughout the city, prevention programs in the education system and community policing, we expect to have a better mixture of enforcement, prevention and quality of life. The program is based on the assumption that you can't confront violence on your own, but only tight cooperation and joint work can create a true and significant change.
The program combines the local civilian efforts with the local police efforts in order to better confront violence and other life-quality crimes, as well as strengthening the sense of security among the local residents. All bodies sit around the same table and operate upon a mutual work plan."
A ceremony was held on Thursday, December 17, celebrating the new member cities of the program. The event was held in the presence of the Minister of Public Security, Yitzhak Aharonovitch; the President of the IFCJ, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstien; the Commissioner of the Israel Police, Inspector General Dudi Cohen; the Director General of the Ministry of Public Security, Chagai Peleg; members of the program's national steering committee; the Mayors of the different cities and other guests.
Over the past two years, the CWV program led to a drastic decline in the extent of violence in the member cities, such as property damage in photographed areas, a large percentage decrease in violence in schools and kindergartens which host the program.
In addition, there was a 70% increase in the number of reports to the city control center, there has been a significant increase in the number of youth participating in the program's leisure activities and informal education activities throughout the year in general and during the summer in particular, and the number of cases which received treatment rose drastically.
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לגרסת הדפסה |
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