The Town of St. Paul will continue on with another three-month contract with RF Protection & K9 Services, a local company that offers security services.
The town agreed to hire the company on a three-month trial basis earlier this spring as a way to help reduce property crime within town limits.
Administration was seeking council's direction on whether or not to continue with hiring the company for another extended period of time.
Debby Hunter, owner of the security company, was on hand Monday to speak with council about the past three months, what has been seen, and the feedback that has been received. Hunter said there has been lots of positive feedback from residents and RCMP.
She said she believes there is less crime being seen in town, but also has heard crime has moved outside town limits.
Hunter noted that if the town agrees to continue on with another contract, she would honour the current rate of $30/hour that is being charged, even though it is below the company's regular rates. She said she personally felt "it's a needed service in town."
Hunter also explained that the company has been varying its shifts, and the days it conducts patrols around town, so people don't know when they are out there. Employees also keep a close eye on local social media pages to see if there are issues they need to follow up on and be aware of.
When speaking specifically about the patrols, Hunter said the company drives a lot of back alleys, and they have also called issues into RCMP when the weren't specifically out working for the town. For example, if they come into town in the early morning hours after working an out of town event, and they notice something, they will take action on it.
"We're paying attention," said Hunter.
Town of St. Paul CAO Kim Heyman said she has noticed a significant drop in complaints coming into the town, asking the municipality to do something to address property crime in town. She said she would recommend the town continue with a contract at least until the end of September.
While Heyman can't specifically say if the reduction in complaints is from having the security company conducting patrols, "it would appear that crime within town has dropped," she noted.
Heyman added that she believes RCMP have also made some significant headway in making arrests.
"Summer is typically when theft and vandalism is at it's highest, and administration is recommending that the security company continue it's patrols until Sept. 30 of this year to see if the lower crime rate is maintained," said Heyman.
Council approved a motion to hire RF Protection and K9 Services until Sept. 30 of this year. The motion was carried unanimously by council on July 8.
Some of the statistics presented to council by RF Protection & K9 Services include:
- Twenty incidents of persons being removed from bank foyers
- Eleven suspicious vehicles noted or reported to RCMP
- Five assists of citizens, one reported to RCMP who located young male in the water by Lagasse park a short time later
- Fourteen reports of suspicious persons walking or on bike
- Two active house parties were also noted, involving underage persons
- A total of 64 incidents were noted or reported from March until July 1
