No decision made after council discusses downtown crime solutions

Coun. Melissa McNeil questioned whether focusing on enforcement alone would get council their desired outcome.

“I’m curious if there’s some groups who maybe already have this on their horizon or are considering what can be done. I know I’ve been very much for the idea of a pack team, a partnership that involves not just police, but also health and mental health addictions,” she said.

McNeil claimed there are similar programs already in place in communities such as Estevan, Yorkton, North Battleford, Regina, Prince Albert and Saskatoon being funded by the provincial government.

“Maybe we are considered too small for that, but if you look at the area of the entire quad community, Estevan is only a couple thousand more when you think about that, and they have teams like that happening.”

Coun. Bruce Skilliter questioned whether or not they are receiving the RCMP services they are paying for.

“One thing I have been thinking about quite a bit is with the RCMP and when we talk about safety, when they give us our report and it shows all the reports, how much time is actually spent in our community policing?” he pondered.

“Are we getting any policing in the downtown core when things are going on or is it always left for Priority 10 instead of Priority 1, 2, or 3?”

Coun. Abby Besharah added she’d rather pay someone to work downtown during peak crime hours to do preventative programming than to do enforcement activities.

“I would rather take an approach that is a positive input as opposed to a reactive response to that,” she said.

It is unclear when council will continue discussing how to reduce crime downtown, although the idea of a town hall meeting was brought up.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

by Derek Cornet

No decision made after council discusses downtown crime solutions

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