North Battleford approves plan to put private security officers on city streets

A pilot project in North Battleford will send private security guards to patrol the city’s downtown core to ease safety concerns in the area.

The city’s downtown business improvement district (BID) will run the one-year pilot project with funding from the city. The BID plans to contract security services from a local Indigenous-led company “to ensure culturally sensitive and measured intervention,” according to a city news release.

City councillor Greg Lightfoot said the unarmed private security officers will stick to the downtown core and aren’t meant to replace existing law enforcement.

“We thought we’d give this a try in the downtown core just because we’re always finding social, addiction, mental issues downtown and this is one way that we can do it without having to be heavy-handed,” Lightfoot said in an interview.

“We’re trying to find ways where we can help rather than just trying to incarcerate. So it’s more of a softer approach to policing and de-escalating issues.”

City council approved the funding in last year’s budget and finalized an agreement with the BID at a special meeting on March 30. The city will use a surplus from its municipal policing contract with the RCMP to pay for the $106,000 project.

North Battleford often finds itself up against its reputation as one of Canada’s per-capita crime capitals, even preemptively issuing statements before the release of the annual Crime Severity Index report.

In 2023, the city said “the major drivers of North Battleford’s high Crime Severity Index rate in the last few years have been minor and non-violent crimes,” which include offences such as mischief, theft, trespassing and probation breaches.

The private security guards will call Battlefords RCMP or community safety officers if interactions escalate or involve criminal matters, according to the city.

“Battlefords RCMP remain committed to working with all partner agencies with the shared goal of keeping our communities safe,” the Saskatchewan RCMP said in a statement.

The downtown BID is still finalizing some operational details.

“We’re hoping it’s going to be a two-person [patrol] just because it seems to be much better enforcement that way and certainly helps accountability,” Lightfoot said.

Provincial Community Safety Minister Michael Weger said he isn’t surprised cities are turning to alternative enforcement strategies.

“Municipalities have to sometimes look at other options as far as making sure their streets are safe,” Weger said on Wednesday during a media event in Saskatoon.

“Policing within the municipality is up to the municipality to decide what they feel is best in their situation. Of course, as a provincial government, we’re doing what we can to support municipalities. We’re committed to fully funding the RCMP. We’re expanding spaces at our police college.”

Lightfoot said the project idea came from the City of Saskatoon, which recently funded a pilot project with its downtown business improvement district to hire private security to patrol the downtown core. The city contracted the Saskatoon Tribal Council to provide teams of two Indigenous peacekeepers for the one-year project.

Saskatoon also contracts private security to patrol its downtown transit terminal in the evening.