Central Park in North Battleford was the scene where agencies gathered to celebrate one full year of operations for the HUB.
The HUB, whose purpose is to address community safety and wellness issues, came together in September of 2012. The HUB is inspired by the model put in place in Prince Albert that was touted for its success in bringing crime down in that city.
Tuesday at noon, members of various agencies including the RCMP, North Battleford Fire Department, education, social services and other agencies, gathered to enjoy burgers and learn more about the HUB.
The HUB committee under the leadership of co-chairs Jim Toye and Pat Loy have been meeting twice weekly to discuss specific situations regarding clients facing elevated levels of risk, as recognized across multiple agencies and ministries. Part of the reason for the event was to spread the word on what the HUB does in the community.
"We wanted to get out today to talk to the community," said Toye. "Some of the community don't know what we do, so that's why we had the barbecue, just to get information about the HUB out."
HUB steering committee chair Herb Sutton said the HUB's role is "mobilizing the various agencies that are already working in the community and making sure their efforts are co-ordinated and they are working together."
He noted that from an education perspective "we see a lot of very vulnerable families and students in our schools and we feel that co-ordinating efforts of all the agencies that are working with these families is the best approach."
The immediate impact of the HUB has been in situations involving young people.
"Most of the cases we are working with involve children," Toye said. "When we talk about 'elevated risk,' if there are situations with their parents that they need assistance, if we give the parents assistance, it also helps them bring up those children in a healthy environment and a safe environment. And really, we're looking at this holistically. That's why we have 14 to 15 agencies around the table, and with everybody at the table they would have perhaps some indication of some of the issues these families are facing and we can deal with intervention in a very timely manner."
Toye told reporters the HUB was instrumental in intervening in the recent spree of school break-ins in June, a situation in which many children under 12 were involved in the commission of those crimes.
The HUB created their own special task force and surrounded those individuals with services, Toye said. "The agencies around that table are helping those families right now so they don't see re-offenders (among) these young individuals."
The HUB event occurred during troubling reports of crime in the community in the last month.
There were two shootings in the city in September alone and three for the year, going back to May, heightening concerns about gun violence in the city.
When asked what role the HUB could play to quell crime fears in the community, Sutton reiterated the HUB's preventative role.
"When we get into a situation where there's a shooting, usually that's a result of the long-term systemic problems, and so the purpose of the HUB is to intervene in those situations and prevent those things from happening. And so it's going to take some time for us to see the benefits, but we really believe this is a very proactive way of creating a safer community."
Toye noted that with respect to the three recent shooting incidents in the city, suspects have been charged in the first two cases while the police are asking for the public's assistance in the third instance. That third incident took place in the early hours of Monday on St. Laurent Drive.
"It is a concern to the HUB," said Toye. "We want this to be a safe community, we want this to be a community where people can work, play and feel safe. And it is a peak, but I think they have been addressed except for the last one. The others are before the courts."
