The Town of St. Paul is looking at what it can do to help reduce crime in the community, and recently put out the idea of hiring a security company to be an extra set of eyes.
According to the town's Jan. 14 agenda, administration was requesting council approve hiring a local company to do patrols around town during hours when Community Peace Officers don't work. Hiring a security company would be "considerably less" than putting CPOs on early morning shifts, and would leave them free to do what they've been hired to do.
The security company's job would be to notify RCMP when they see suspicious activity. Discussions around specific hours and days of the week that the company would be hired were not brought up during the open session of the meeting, council instead went into a closed session to discuss specifics, citing FOIP section 20: Disclosure harmful to Law Enforcement.
"There would be little value to this additional security if the criminals in town know when they will be out and about," said Heyman.
Coun. Nathan Taylor asked if the security company would have more powers than the volunteer group Citizens on Patrol. While the company wouldn't have more powers, the town would know when the company is out patrolling, said Heyman.
Taylor said he was worried that having the town hire a company would drive away volunteers who are involved with Citizens on Patrol. He noted that he would rather see funds be directed to the non-profit instead of a private company.
Following in-camera discussions on Monday night, the matter was brought back to the table on Jan. 17 during the Town of St. Paul's Committee of the Whole meeting. St. Paul RCMP Staff Sgt. Corey Blize attended the meeting as requested by the town.
"We just want your feedback," said Miller, speaking to Blize on Thursday night.
Blize said the he is neutral on the idea of the town hiring a security company to patrol the community. While he agreed that it would be another set of eyes, he pointed out that the company still can't be everywhere, watching all 2,500 buildings in the town.
He noted that some places have opted to have security in place, such as the provincial building, although that specific example was in response to vagrancy issues, not property crime.
When asked specifically about the impact that Citizens on Patrol has, Blize said the RCMP does not keep any kind of statistics on the effects of the group. He also admitted that when property crime is high, groups are often more active, and when the trend changes, the groups become less active.
When looking at St. Paul specifically, the local Citizens on Patrol group has been in existence for many years. He explained that the detachment has a white board with priority areas listed on it that Citizens on Patrol volunteers look at when they come into the detachment prior to going out on a patrol.
The volunteers connect with an RCMP officer, but have to call in any suspicious activity the same was any resident would have to.
Heyman asked Blize if he felt any recent arrests that have been made would have an effect on crime in St. Paul. He noted that RCMP have been releasing more information to the media in an effort to inform the public. Typically, when the public is aware of things that are happening, they are more cognizant and take steps to prevent things from happening, said Blize.
Making arrests may not necessarily change crime patterns much, especially since a lot of crime comes down to addiction issues, explained Blize.
Miller asked Blize what he felt the local RCMP members' reaction to the town hiring security would be. Blize said he didn't think there would be any negative feelings toward the town. The topic of a possible increase in calls coming into the detachment was noted, with one councillor asking how the detachment would handle that.
"It's the criminals creating the work, not the security company," said Blize. He added that overall, St. Paul's call volume is very steady, and doesn't see seem to have peak times like other communities do. Blize also spoke about things the detachment is doing to free up officers, and shift responsibilities when possible - such as handing over found bicycles to the CPOs.
Blize acknowledged that the town's contract for policing is a large one for a community of its size. He also noted that he recently found information that showed 28 RCMP officers in St. Paul in 1992, and that number has since only grown to 31.
He also noted that work is being done to bring services together and address certain issues, such as addictions.
"I think we need to try from as many angled as we can," said Miller. No decisions were made on the issue last week. The matter will be brought back to the table at the Jan. 28 council meeting, confirmed Heyman.
