(Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

CSO program review

North Battleford CSO program under review to assess level of service

Jan 20, 2021 | 4:20 PM

There may be some changes ahead for the North Battleford Community Safety Officer (CSO) program.

“A few members put in a lot of work to get us to this point, and I’m pleased to be able to say that we will be giving you a draft level of service statement for our CSOs,” City Director of Protective Services Lindsay Holm told city council members during this week’s planning committee meeting.

The aim is to define the officers’ roles and ensure the program meets the needs of the community.

Holm said the document is fluid and will change as the community’s needs shift and grow.

Karstin Mitchell, asset management coordinator at the City of North Battleford, presented the findings of the review of the program. He participated in ride-alongs with CSO officers, and interviewed the CSO program supervisor and administration as part of the study.

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The report indicated 60 per cent of officers’ time is spent on municipal bylaw enforcement, and 40 per cent on provincial matters, such as speeding or school zone infractions, and other types of enforcement.

Among the goals are to improve visibility, such as through having more foot patrols downtown. While there were some patrols late in 2020, more are needed. But it was noted current resources make that difficult.

“Keeping more visible in the downtown is spending a couple hours a day, or whatever it needs to be, so everyone can feel safe,” Mitchell said.

He added this would also entail officers being more engaged with the community and businesses downtown.

Adding to visibility would also involve visiting schools to educate youth about the officers’ duties and some of the bylaws that come up in their work.

It was also mentioned the CSO department building is at its life’s end, and also sustained flooding in 2020, so it will need to be replaced in the future.

When council gave its input on the program, Coun. Len Taylor said he would like to see more bylaws enforced.

“My biggest issue has always been winter sidewalk snow removal,” he said. “We have a bylaw. There is a fine if your property abuts a sidewalk and you don’t remove the snow on it… Bylaw enforcement is something the public wants us to deal with, as well as the safety component.”

There was also some discussion on looking at altering CSO scheduling so more are working during the busy times of the week.

Holm mentioned having community feedback, such as through a survey for example, would also help discern if the CSOs are meeting residents’ needs.

Council previously approved a new CSO position in the 2021 budget, to provide foot patrols downtown and other related work, however it asked for more discussion on the matter.

Coun. Kelli Hawtin said she fully supports the position, and the information council members received related to CSO level of service also shows the need for it.

She said the public also expressed its desire to see a CSO patrol downtown, to respond to the community’s perception of safety there – keeping relationships calm and making sure the downtown is a safe place to shop, dine and bank.

Administration will bring the matter back to the next regular council meeting so members will have an opportunity to indicate that council is in favour of proceeding with the hiring to start the process.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW