As a result, the RCMP play a key role in making the program work in communities in large parts of Canada. In Windsor and Essex County, I know that you deal on a regular basis with the RCMP as well as the OPP, Canada Customs, municipal police services and local security forces in a real partnership effort. One of the worst things about being a victim of crime is the sense of violation, particularly if the crime involves physical assault or invasion of your home. There is a sense of helplessness, of being subject to forces beyond one's control. And that sense of violation is not just confined to the victim.
Every crime represents an attack on our collective safety and security as a community.
Fortunately, the impact of the crime is balanced by the desire of the community to rally around and offer support. The brilliance of the Crime Stoppers concept is that it appeals to this basic human desire to help and channels community support toward a constructive end, namely the arrest of the criminal and the return of stolen property. The federal government has been working to ensure that its efforts to improve the criminal justice system mirror the success you have achieved with Crime Stoppers. I have already mentioned our support for community policing efforts. Another integral part of our Safe Homes Safe Streets program is crime prevention.