Additional officers spent 10 weeks patrolling Regent Park area

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• Historic Fort York David Spittal courtesy murmur.com
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Fifty-one Division police wrapped up a successful summer of community policing by giving back to the Regent Park residents through a new neighbourhood garden.

Local police officers and area residents, including a group of children from Dixon Hall's summer camp, spent most of last week digging up a grassy plot of land near 14 Blevins Place, the only apartment building that won't be torn down during the community's 12-year redevelopment.

With the assistance of Earth Inc., a local landscaping design firm, the group transformed the site, near River and Shuter streets, into a welcoming and colourful community green space.

"We wanted to leave something nice behind. It's a thank you gift to the community," said Const. Ben Dury, a member of 51 Division's Focused Neighbourhood TAVIS (Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy) Deployment, a 10-week initiative where additional officers patrolled violence-prone communities.

Dury said he saw the potential for the unused strip of land and contacted his good friend James Dale, one of the co-owners of Earth Inc., for some advice on how to beautify the plot of land.

Before Dury knew it, the local business had jumped in feet first donating a week's worth of manpower.

Various sponsors and suppliers also donated $30,000 of products to the project. The city chipped in $3,000 through a neighbourhood beautification grant.

"James just got on board and really took it a lot farther than we ever dreamed," Dury said.

Dale said his team decided it would be best to remove everything on the site and start from scratch.

A total of 15 different native plant species now make up the new community garden.

"It's all about getting people outside, involved in the community and taking care of it," Dale said, assuring he'd continue to advise local residents on how to upkeep the space.

"It's a beautiful garden that will be sustained throughout the years as a memory for the kids who planted it. Everybody has something to be proud of now," said Supt. Kimberley Greenwood, adding local police would continue to monitor the community once the program is over for the summer.

"This is a successful summer for the community."

Ward 28 (Toronto Centre-Rosedale) Councillor Pam McConnell, who is also the Toronto police services board vice-chair, was equally elated with the project.

"It's not just a beautiful garden, but it also shows the relationships that have been built over the summer," she said, adding improving relationship between local police and area residents is at the heart of community policing.

"As we're rebuilding the neighbourhood we need to make sure some of these orphaned spaces are also beautified," she added.

The Focused Neighbourhoods TAVIS Deployment, which also took place in North York's 31 Division, will wrap up for the summer on Aug. 31.

Its primary objective is to increase public safety by making better connections with area residents in violence-prone communities.