The two new community safety officers participating in the six-month trial Enhanced Bylaw Enforcement Program have officially been approved by the City.
The program was announced at a news conference the week before, but Monday night city council officially voted to approve the program. The provincial appointments of Stephen Richard Scott Jordan-Zerr and Paul Matthew Sirman as special constables for the City of North Battleford until Dec. 31 were confirmed.
The resolution, which passed unanimously, makes official the hiring of Jordan-Zerr and Sirman as the officers for the trial program.
The provincial government approved the appointment in response to the City's Community Safety Strategy that was presented to the province in February.
While approval was granted by the province, no additional funds have been provided for the strategy, according to a July 16 memo from City Manager Jim Puffalt.
Puffalt's memo states the Enhanced Bylaw Enforcement will come at no additional cost through fine revenues, and will include a number of services. Those include seven-day-a-week service including evenings, increased foot patrols and presence downtown and in malls and parks, increased vehicle presence and patrols, traffic safety enforcement, increased visibility to curb vandalism and mischief and fostering and working with community groups.
Puffalt explained there will be monthly reports to council on the progress of the pilot program to determine if goals are being met and whether it should continue following the six-month trial period.
"We believe it's the first of its kind where we're integrating with the RCMP in a collective effort to divert resources," said Puffalt. Councillor Greg Lightfoot also pointed out this is something done in Alberta for the past number of years, something Fire Chief Albert Headrick confirmed.
Lightfoot said he's noticed the new peace officer cars around the city as well as some foot patrols. He noted reaction has been positive.
"We've had very positive comments about the program and it's only been around five days," Lightfoot said.
In addition, Puffalt said Community Safety Co-ordinator Herb Sutton will officially start that position in the coming weeks and Puffalt's memo indicated Sutton was being provided background materials on the programs in the City.
Other work continues on a number of other issues where the City is able to co-ordinate with the RCMP. This includes developing guidelines with RCMP for enhanced bylaw enforcement to be able to assist with such things as noisy parties, false alarms and vandalism situations.
