Caucus members joined Premier Stelmach on November 6, 2008 to mark the first anniversary of the Safe Communities initiative with the announcement of a $60 million fund.

The Safe Communities Innovation Fund will be used for innovative projects that prevent or reduce crime at a grass-roots level. Community-based projects will receive $30 million and community policing partnership projects will also receive $30 million. The fund will be equally divided between Edmonton, Calgary and the rest of Alberta over the next three years.

Building on the work of Alberta’s Safe Communities initiative over the past year the fund serves to engage communities with police in addressing the root causes of crime.