Graffiti crackdown blitz, security camera registry all part of city’s safety efforts

Sutton said the Citizens on Patrol had more patrols since the group’s numbers increased back in the fall. They are targeting specific areas and working closely with the RCMP.

“They know where the higher calls for service are in the last month or two,” he said. “That is the area of the city where they are targeting.”

The Citizens on Patrol recently completed a graffiti blitz, taking pictures of any graffiti they see around the city and the locations that they shared with the RCMP.

“That’s good information for [the RCMP], especially if they know the locations of where [the taggings were done],” Sutton said.

The city’s community safety officers will be able to assist in getting the graffiti removed.

Property owners are responsible for removing graffiti on their property.

“If we can remove it quickly, it sends a message that – no, that’s not [gang] territory, it’s our neighbourhood,” Sutton said. “If you leave it up, [gangs] can only assume that you are ok with it. So we’re really going to try hard to get that stuff removed as quickly as possible.”

The COPP team is also involved in a program for property owners to register their security cameras with the organization in an effort to help the RCMP.

The COPP group said in the promotion for the program the security camera registry helps as an investigative tool to assist police with investigations when an incident happens in the property owner’s neighborhood.

When a security camera is registered, the information is shared with the RCMP and Community Safety Officers who may contact the owner of the camera to view security footage, only if an incident has occurred in the person’s area. The security camera registry is completely voluntary. The Citizens on Patrol group said the information provided to the RCMP and Community Safety Officers is kept confidential.

Sutton wants to remind people they can still register their security cameras at any time. Currently security cameras are registered for 62 locations in the city.

“I would like to see that number higher, but compared to last spring when it was at 20 that’s pretty a significant increase,” he said.

For the North Battleford Community Safety Committee, the group currently has two of its members that are taking training in Saskatoon.

“The training is an important part of the work of the committee,” Sutton said. “It provides a foundation for the direction of the committee. I can’t stress enough the importance of using research to guide the community safety initiatives in the city.”

He said the group will focus on community education for 2020, so more people will know about the group and its work. The committee is also looking at giving presentations on its projects to various organizations and service clubs in the future.

For the Battlefords Regional Community Coalition – previously known as the multi-government steering coalition. Sutton said the partnership made up of the city and town mayors and five area First Nation leaders continues to meet to bring the province and federal government to the table for discussions. The group has met five times since the June, 2019 signing of the Sacichawasihc Relationship Agreement which commits them to work collaboratively for the socio-economic benefit and vibrancy of the region.

“It really continues to indicate their commitment to this work,” Sutton said.

They recently received the Saskatchewan Municipal Award at the Municipalities of Saskatchewan, formerly known as the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), convention in Regina.

“There really appeared to be amongst the [convention] delegates I talked to 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 is much needed in other parts of the province, and in fact the country,” Sutton said. “So that was really encouraging.”

He said receiving the award brought a provincial profile to the parties’ work for the future.

“We hope to be able to utilize this in our efforts to bring the provincial government to the table,” Sutton said.

“This continues to be a work in progress,” he added.

He said the regional agreement representatives who attended the conference were able to meet with some of the government ministers “and began the discussion of how we can engage with the province.”

Sutton is excited about the possibilities for the future.

“We need to continue to think and act regionally, and learn how to build positive relationships and effective collaborations within the regional communities,” he said.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW

by Angela Brown

Graffiti crackdown blitz, security camera registry all part of city’s safety efforts

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