The Saint John Police Force is conducting foot patrols as part of its plan to engage with the community.
Community engagement is the number one priority under the organization’s five-year strategic plan.
Chief Robert Bruce told the Saint John Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday that foot patrols can benefit ongoing investigations.
“What happens is people get comfortable with you and they tell you stuff. They say things like, ‘hey, you know this is going on over there,’ and then you’ll go, ‘well, who’s involved in that?’ because it’s one-on-one, it’s face-to-face because they also want the issue solved,” said Bruce.
The patrols will run each year from May to September, and there will be two to three per week.
There are six specific foot patrol zones: Uptown, Crescent Valley, Old North End, Waterloo Village, Lower West, and the Shopping District.
In addition to benefiting ongoing investigations, Bruce said foot patrols can also build confidence between residents and police.
“It’s because people care about their community. They want to make it safer, they want to make it secure, and they want to be a part of it, and so when you open that up to them they’re happy to be involved,” he said.
All members of the police force will participate in foot patrols, including senior management, regular members, neighbourhood officers, and auxiliary officers.
“I was even in Crescent Valley a week ago, I went to the school, I went to the [Crescent Valley Resource Centre], I met neighbours on the street, and we had really good conversations with the public. We even got some drugs turned in that were found on the street,” mentioned Bruce.
Bruce said the police force now has a community engagement sergeant, who will assess and address community needs by involving specific groups, and ensure resources are deployed in a timely and efficient manner.
As well, members of each platoon will be placed in special assignments that support engagement, which includes four neighbourhood officers.
The neighbourhood officers will be placed in each area of the city, and the initiative does include four offices.
“So far, three sites are set right now. The east side is still working on the office space because it was donated to us, so we are making adjustments to it, but the other three are up and running,” said Bruce.
The locations of the offices include:
- Pulse Inc. at 251 Wentworth Street (South End)
- Carleton Community Center at 120 Market Place (West Side)
- Nick Nicolle Centre at 85 Durham Street (North End)
- 77 Golden Grove Road (East Side)
