Community Safety Co-ordinator Herb Sutton presented his February monitoring report to North Battleford city council Monday, and that report focused heavily on the city’s initiatives with the Battlefords Regional Community Coalition as well as Citizens on Patrol.
In previous reports Sutton had referred to coalition as the Multigovernment Steering Coalition, but it is now under a new name to highlight the regional nature of the work.
Sutton says the leadership has met five times since the signing of the Sacichawasihc Relationship Agreement last year, with a view towards bringing the province and federal governments to the table. The leaders and project team had also been to the SUMA convention in Regina to receive the Sask. Municipal Award.
Sutton reported that at SUMA there was “a great deal of interest in the work of the coalition, and certainly a sense of excitement that we are moving down a path here in the Battlefords region that’s much needed in other parts of the province and in fact the country.”
He added that the municipal award brought a profile to the work and “we hope to utilize it in our efforts to bring the provincial government to the table.”
There are also early plans for a regional rollout. Sutton is urging people to stay tuned for more details. March 11 is scheduled as the next meeting date for the leadership.
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design: Sutton spoke at length about CPTED in his report. He noted that civic employees Brett Kitchen and Dustin Macdonald are taking the CPTED training at the moment.
His written report noted education of the public will be a major focus of CPTED in 2020, including community presentations and training opportunities. His report stated work has also commenced on a “Safe at Home” document providing tips to residents on how to keep their homes safe.
Citizens on Patrol: Sutton reported there are now 29 active members continuing to meet monthly. A lot of work is now being done by the executive to bring new members together to get to know each other.
There have been an increase of patrols, and they have also recently completed a “graffiti blitz” taking pictures of graffiti throughout the city and locations. Those have been shared with the RCMP, said Sutton. That information is passed on to the community safety officers who will assist in getting it removed.
Sutton cited the importance of getting the graffiti removed, noting a lot of the activity is gang-tagging-related.
“Gangs put the tags there because they are marking it as their territory,” said Sutton. “If we can remove it quickly it sends the message that, no, it’s not your territory, it’s our neighbourhood.
