Resilience: Meadville, PA - 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies

Globally: The United Nations defines peace, justice and strong institutions as effective, accountable institutions that promote peaceful, inclusive societies with access to justice for all.

Meadville: Making connections and having a relationship between area authorities and the community is incredibly important. It's also important to see how involved citizens are by how they connect with their officials and if they're involved by voting.

Local Facts and Figures

Are Crawford County residents engaged in elections?

In the 2016 presidential election, residents of Crawford County were registered at a higher rate than statewide or nationally, but voted at a lower rate.

Table 1. Percent of total Voting Age population registered and voting in the 2016 presidential election (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)

In the 2017 local election, turnout was estimated at just 26.48%. (6)

How accessible are local officials to the public?

The Meadville City Board holds two meetings every month, which are open to public comment during certain periods of each meeting. This provides for accessible officials, and open communication.
The police station in Meadville is located at the center of the city next to Diamond Park, making it easily accessible in a physical sense.
The fire station is located in downtown Meadville on Park Avenue.

Is the Meadville Police Department accredited through the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association?

No, the Meadville Police Department does not participate. In fact, there are no accredited agencies in Crawford County. The accreditation seeks to provide a consistent process, standards, and professional objectives with which to evaluate and improve overall performance. Some of the benefits of the accreditation process are reduction in risk and liability and an improvement in community relations and agency confidence. (7)

Photo Credit: Meadville Tribune

Is the Meadville Fire Department accredited through the Commonwealth's Certification Program?

Yes, the Meadville Fire Department is recognized for 75% participation in the Commonwealth's Certification Program (8) to encourage personnel to voluntarily certify within the professional standards programs administered by the Office of the State Fire Commissioner (9).

What is the crime rate in Meadville?

The crime rate per 100,000 population in Meadville is compared to Crawford County below. (10) An additional analyses of state (11) and national (12) crime was completed, but is not included in the table below due to discrepancies in categorization and reporting years that made comparisons difficult.

Table 2. Profile of 2017 Crime Statistics for Meadville City and Crawford County. (10)

Local Strengths and Opportunities

Meadville’s city officials are accessible, offering public comment sessions during all available meetings, and publicizing their decision making process. For example, the City hosted hours of discussions, multiple town hall sessions, and even a last minute voicing option directly before the actual vote to approve MAWA's addition of fluoride to the municipal drinking water.
Crawford County's rate of voter registration is higher than the state or national rates.
Meadville's Fire Department pursues training and accreditation to best serve the public.

Local Weaknesses and Threats

Voter turnout for a local election was less than half the turnout during a presidential election, reflecting minimal engagement in local political processes.
The Meadville Police Department is not accredited through the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association and may benefit from considering this process.

Case Studies

DELTA BRIDGE PROJECT, HELENA & WEST HELENA, ARKANSAS: collaborative steering committee drawing on collective strengths to seek community solutions

SINGAPORE: network of organizations works collaboratively to provide services and combat isolation of elderly population

Citations

Links

Crawford County Voter Services

Meth Lab info sheet