N.S. launching community safety pilot project in 3 municipalities

Nova Scotia expects to launch a pilot project this year to explore “innovative, community-driven” approaches to improving public health and safety, the province’s justice minister recently told municipal leaders.

In an update last week to the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, Scott Armstrong said his department is partnering with the Department of Communities on the three-year pilot.

They are in the middle of selecting three municipalities to take part, he said. The project will eventually expand across the province.

The local governments chosen for the pilot will work with their police agencies and other groups to develop community safety and well-being frameworks that address the “root causes of crime, and social vulnerability,” Armstrong said.

“On the ground this could mean reduced emergency service calls, improved access to support services, and stronger community partnerships,” Armstrong told the federation during a conference in Yarmouth.

Bridgewater Mayor David Mitchell, who serves as president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, said the project seems to fall in line with some of the foundational changes the province announced following last year’s major policing review, including layered policing.

Layered policing could see more community safety officers and special constables used to respond to a range of public safety needs, while allowing sworn officers to focus on core policing duties, according to the province.

“We can’t just keep doing Band-Aids — you have to get to the root,” Mitchell said in an interview.

“I’m looking forward to this pilot starting wherever they’re starting, and then hearing the results and seeing it expand.”

Mitchell said he would expect many municipalities to put their hands up to take part in the pilot project because there are similar safety issues across this province.

Armstrong said municipalities will soon be able to use an online community safety dashboard, displaying Statistics Canada data via graphics to illustrate the type and amount of crimes in their area.

Once the pilot is complete, he said the province hopes to learn from that experience to support communities across Nova Scotia in developing their own community safety plans.

Armstrong said the move fulfils a recommendation from the Mass Casualty Commission for provinces to help build comprehensive community safety needs assessments.

Minister asked about homelessness

The minister was also asked during the conference whether the province is building a collective approach to support municipalities dealing with public safety challenges related to homelessness.

“I want to talk about homelessness, but the lawlessness that’s associated with it,” Coun. Wayne Talbot of Truro said during a question and answer session with Armstrong.

“Municipal units are taking this on one at a time.”

Armstrong said while Halifax has made “great strides” in getting more people into housing through the Department of Opportunities and Social Development, and there have been successes in other communities, “we’re not where we need to be yet.”

The key is collaboration with mental health and addictions resources, Armstrong said, alongside police enforcement and bail reform.

‘Need to have the supports in place’

He pointed to pending federal legislation that aims to make bail harder to obtain for repeat and violent offenders, but acknowledged that many municipalities in Nova Scotia are dealing with repeat offenders with low-level charges.

Armstrong said federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser has made it clear “bail reform is just starting,” and future legislation could address “small-time crime.”

Mitchell said he has brought up the same issue with Fraser, the Liberal MP for Central Nova.

In Bridgewater, for example, Mitchell said there is a man with 54 police files against him, but police and the courts are caught in a revolving door of “catch and release.”

Armstrong said another approach that could be considered is how provinces like British Columbia and Alberta have brought in varying degrees of involuntary care, where people experiencing severe mental illness or addiction are forced to get treatment if they pose harm to themselves or others.

“I understand the frustration, I hear it every day. I’m very frustrated myself,” Armstrong said.

“We also need to have the supports in place so we help these people … to make sure that they don’t have these issues constantly without getting the supports they need, so we’re going to work together on that.”

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