The Alberta government is giving you an opportunity to recognize individuals/ groups who make our communities safer.

Acting Minister of Justice, Marlin Schmidt, shares the Alberta Community Justice Awards have been around since the 90s and are a great way to recognize all the work that is being done on a grassroots level to combat crime. "The Community Justice Awards recognize individuals and organizations that lead community safety in crime prevention initiatives. They acknowledge the work that is done by these organizations and also helps to inspire other people to take up this type of work to make our communities more safe."

Recognizing individuals for more than two decades, there are several different categories individuals/groups can be recognized in. "These include leadership, innovation, service enhancement, community mobilization, and partnership/collaboration. We know that our law enforcement partners in Alberta rely on the work that these grassroots organizations play in reducing and preventing crime in all of our communities in the province."

There is a wide range of individuals and groups that can be nominated, says Minister Schmidt. "The awards recognize the work of people who work in all areas of justice including victim services, youth justice, restorative justice and any other crime prevention efforts. It is a broad range of people who are eligible for these kinds of awards."

The reason you should take the time to nominate, is simple, shares Minister Schmidt. "We recognize there's a lot of good work going on at a grassroots level of communities all across the province to reduce crime and we want to recognize the good work that these individuals and organizations are doing and help promote their work so we can all work together to make our communities safer."

You must submit the nomination of a great community leader or group by February 20 and you can find the form here. An awards ceremony will be held in Edmonton in June with winners being announced before then. 

The last time a Town of Cochrane community member was recognized was back in 2000 when the awards were called the Crime Prevention Awards. Gerry Meggeson was recognized for his work with Cochrane's Citizens on Patrol.