Media advisory - TAVIS and Toronto Hydro "Light the Night" Community Clean-up
and Safety Initiative

    
    Saturday, August 21, 2010, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.,
    Firgrove Community Centre, 5 Needle Firway
    

TORONTO, Aug. 21 /CNW/ - The Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy, or TAVIS for short, is a Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services provincially funded initiative dedicated to creating and maintaining sustainable, safe neighbourhoods. TAVIS initiatives are operating in all of the 17 TPS Divisions and are supported by every unit in the Service.

On Saturday, August 21, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., TAVIS will partner with Toronto Hydro-Electric System (Toronto Hydro), Toronto Community Housing and residents of the Jane and Finch neighbourhood for a community clean-up and "Light the Night" safety initiative. The group will be cutting and trimming overgrown lawns, shrubs and trees, picking up litter and removing graffiti.

The community clean-up and Light the Night initiative focuses on Toronto neighbourhoods identified by TAVIS as experiencing challenges in relation to violence. Toronto Hydro is providing free energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) for the community members' front and rear porches.

Residents are encouraged to turn on their new porchlights at night to dissuade crime and help make their home and neighbourhood safer. A CFL turned on between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. will cost less than one penny in electricity. That's because CFLs use 75 per cent less energy than an incandescent bulb and the lowest Time-of-Use (TOU) electricity price period is from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

    
    What:  TAVIS Community Clean-up and Light the Night Safety Initiative
    When:  Saturday, August 21, 2010, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Community BBQ
           taking place at noon
    Where: 5 Needle Firway
    

About the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS):

The 2010 Neighbourhood TAVIS Initiative (NTI) started Monday, May 24, 2010. As part of this initiative, 90 additional police officers and six support staff are assigned to three different neighbourhoods to conduct patrols and work together with the community to create sustainable, safe neighbourhoods.

The TAVIS officers are focusing their efforts in the Albion-Finch (23 Division), Jane-Finch (31 Division) and the Scarborough Village (Markham-Eglinton: 43 Division) neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods were chosen using crime-trend analysis, hotspot-occurrence mapping and community consultation. The neighbourhoods were identified because they are experiencing a disproportionate level of criminal activity for their size.

This summer, the TAVIS officers will be walking and cycling throughout the area:

    
    -  to intervene and prevent violence
    -  introducing themselves to neighbourhood residents and business owners
    -  participating in local activities and events
    -  expanding current relationships and partnerships and creating new ones
    -  providing the community with information about the TAVIS concept of
       policing,
    -  working with citizens, the community, and the City of Toronto to
       mobilize the community with the goal of creating a safer neighbourhood
    

About Toronto Hydro Corporation:

Toronto Hydro Corporation is a holding company, which wholly-owns two principal subsidiaries:

    
    -  Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited - which distributes electricity
       and engages in Conservation and Demand Management ("CDM") activities;
       and
    -  Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc. - which provides street lighting
       services.
    

The principal business of the Corporation and its subsidiaries is the distribution of electricity by Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited. Toronto Hydro-Electric System owns and operates an electricity distribution system, which delivers electricity to approximately 696,000 customers located in the City of Toronto. It is the largest municipal electricity distribution company in Canada and distributes approximately 18% of the electricity consumed in Ontario.

About Toronto Community Housing:

Toronto Community Housing is Canada's largest social housing provider and home to more than 164,000 tenants, about 6% of the city's population, with low and moderate incomes. Toronto Community Housing employs 1,400 staff in a broad range of jobs who deliver its mandate to provide quality housing and build great neighbourhoods. Toronto Community Housing is one of Canada's 2010 Top 100 Employers.

For further information: Sergeant Jeff Pearson at [email protected] or at 416-315-4634; Gillian Earle: Toronto Hydro, at [email protected], or 416-903-3529; Tanya Bruckmueller: Toronto Hydro, at [email protected], or 416-903-0440; Kyle Rooks: Toronto Community Housing, at [email protected], or at 416-981-4347