Saskatoon strives to combat crime through community mobilization

Watch the video above: Saskatoon police are looking to implement a community mobilization plan similar to one in place in Prince Albert

SASKATOON – Inspired by crime-cutting measures adopted by Prince Albert, Saskatoon police have begun laying the groundwork for a major community mobilization plan.

The HUB was launched in Prince Albert in 2011. It represents one of two facets that make up the Community Mobilization Prince Albert model.

If offers up a coordinated immediate response by mobilizing specific resources in order to address situations faced by individuals and families with acutely elevated risk factors.

Representatives within fields including policing, social work, mental health, health care and education team up to assess individual cases where help might be needed.

“The HUB in Saskatoon is just in its pilot phase at the moment,” said Sgt. Craig Nyirfa with Saskatoon Police Service. 

“You see a lot of people entering into our world as a result of having gone through a number of things in their lives that could have been impacted at an earlier stage,” he told Global News.

“By bringing people together, you can identify where some of the risk is.”

The hope is to have the project up and running some time in March.

“This shouldn’t be perceived as a policing program, it’s strength comes from a variety of players involved in it, so it’s actually a model for a more efficient, effective human service delivery program,” Nyirfa said.

RCMP, social services, corrections and policing, the Saskatoon Tribal Council and mobile crisis and both the public and Catholic school divisions in the city are on board.

“As many years as I was a policeman – 27 years – those statistics went up every single year. Now to start to see them come down was a huge victory and an indication that we were on the right track,” said Brent Kalinowski, one of the founding members of Community Mobilization Prince Albert.

High rates of violence, alcohol abuse, suicide and HIV were among some of the issues law enforcement were forced to deal with on a constant basis. Calls for service had gone up exponentially and something had to be done.

So Kalinowski ventured to another part of the world experiencing a similar level of trouble – Glasgow, Scotland.

Joined by a team which included fellow police officers and social workers, they examined how issues were being dealt with there, in order to confront the issues that awaited them back home in Prince Albert.

“That’s what we’re really trying to accomplish – getting at some of the social issues and the root cause of what crime is,” he said.

Kalinowski is now spearheading community mobilization efforts in North Bay, Ont.

“A lot of the success goes back to Prince Albert and I think that’s a real treat – not only for the province, but for the men and women who are involved in that area.”