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PUBLIC
SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES
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Thursday, 2016 March 10
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An ‘Open’ meeting of the Public
Safety Committee was held in the Council Chamber, Burnaby City Hall, 4949
Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C. on Thursday, 2016 March 10 at 6:00 PM.
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PRESENT: Councillor Pietro
Calendino, Chair
Councillor
Paul McDonell, Vice Chair
Councillor
Anne Kang, Member
Mr.
Larry Hayes, School Trustee
Ms.
Emily Li, Citizens’ Representative
Ms.
Bethany McGolrick, Citizens’ Representative
Ms.
Serena Mawani, Citizens’ Representative
Mr.
David Pereira, Citizens’ Representative
Mr.
Trevor Ritchie, Citizens’ Representative
Ms.
Carolyn Orazietti, Chair District #2 – Burnaby Mountain
Ms. Lindy McQueen, Chair District #3 – Southeast
Ms.
Mary Gates, Chair District #4 – Southwest
ABSENT: Ms.
Donna Dawson, Burnaby Crime Prevention Society
Mr. Paul Holden, Burnaby
Board of Trade
Mr. Stephen McLean,
Citizens’ Representative
Mr. Tony Wong, Chair
District #1 – Hastings/Brentwood
STAFF: Chief Supt. Dave
Critchley, OIC, RCMP
Supt. Stephan Drolet,
Operations Officer/Assistant OIC, RCMP
S/S/M
John Buis, Executive NCO
Sgt.
Gregor Aitken, Strategic Planning NCO
Insp.
Kathy Hartwig, Community Programs Officer
Cst.
Shelby Murphy, Anti-Graffiti Coordinator, RCMP
Mr.
Joe Robertson, Fire Chief
Mr. Lambert Chu, Acting City Manager
Ms.
Kathy Wipf, Anti-Graffiti Coordinator
Ms.
Margaret Manifold, Social Planner
Ms.
Eva Prior, Administrative Officer
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The
Chair called the Open meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.
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The
Chair introduced Ms. Bethany McGoldrick and Ms. Serena Mawani as the newest
Citizen Representatives to the Public Safety Committee.
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a)
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Minutes
of the Open meeting of the Public Safety Committee held on 2016 January 14
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MOVED BY Mr. HAYES
SECONDED BY Ms. orazietti
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THAT
the minutes of the 'Open' meeting of the Public Safety Committee held on 2016
January 14 be adopted.
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CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Supt. Stephen Drolet and Corporal Brad
Gibson appeared before the Committee to provide an overview of the
pilot project for the 2016 Burnaby RCMP Bike Squad.
Supt. Drolet highlighted
the mandate and staffing for the 2016 Burnaby RCMP Bike Squad, noting that the
project will run fulltime from 01 May until 31 October 2016. The RCMP will use
existing resources that have been specifically trained for the uniformed Bike
Squad.
Duties of the Bike Patrol
will include:
·
Community
engagement through special events and high visibility patrols;
·
Crime
reduction activities through proactive enforcement of hotspots and problem
areas; and
·
Operational
Policing by assisting General Duty on files, ability to project police presence
in areas difficult to access and low profile asset when required.
The team structure of the
Bike Squad will consist of one Corporal, one Senior Constable and four
Constables. The team will be engaged in day and evening shifts with the
ability to adjust shifts based on priorities of the department.
Three objectives have been
identified to define success:
·
Operational
Policing – number of enforcements, number of calls serviced as primary
assisting unit and number of self-generated files
·
Community
Engagement – number of hours spent conducting high visibility patrols and
number of community events/festivals attended
·
Crime
Reduction – number of hours spent patrolling hot spots as defined by Crime
analysist, number of street checks conducted and number of Offender Management
checks conducted
Assessment will be
conducted by a Steering Committee consisting of an Operational Officer and four
Non-Commissioned Officers from all business lines. The assessment will
include:
·
Daily
reporting of the Bike Squad;
·
Monthly
review to assess effectiveness, impact on other activities and readjust as
necessary; and
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End of
project comprehensive review to determine operational effectiveness, impact on
other programs and determine feasibility including recommendations moving
forward.
The RCMP will be reporting
back to the Committee on the outcomes of this pilot project.
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MOVED BY councillor mcdonell
SECONDED BY mr. ritchie
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THAT
the correspondence be received.
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CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Correspondence was received
from the City Clerk regarding the consultation of revisions to the Emergency
Program Act, RSBC 1996 (The Act). The report provided Council with staff
comments and suggestions in response to the Ministry of State for Emergency
Preparedness’ document, Prepared and Resilient: a discussion paper of the
legislative framework for emergency management in British Columbia.
**Councillor Kang, retired from the meeting at 6:46
p.m.**
The discussion paper was
reviewed by staff and they supported a majority of the changes and findings by
the Provincial Ministry; however, Discussion 6, Ministerial authority to
direct emergency planning, is not supported by staff. The proposed change
increases provincial authority over local government emergency planning and
emergency plan content. This would have the potential
to not only usurp a local
authority’s power to make decisions on and control emergency management
programs and plans for their jurisdiction, but also cause a local authority
extraordinary financial burden.
**Councillor Kang, returned to the meeting at 6:50 p.m.**
Lambert Chu, Acting City
Manager informed the Committee that the City’s Emergency Management office
coordinates training, planning for emergency management and provides support to
the City’s Emergency Operation Centre in the event of a major disaster. Mr.
Chu advised that the report, outlining the staff’s comments and
recommendations, has been submitted to the Province.
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MOVED BY Mr. hayes
SECONDED BY councillor mcdonell
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THAT
the Monthly Reports be received.
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CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
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Mr. Wong, Chair, District #1 provided
a monthly report advising that the Heights Merchants Association has been encouraging
merchants to report crime to the RCMP. Reporting of crimes will bring
awareness to the issues and assist the RCMP with mitigation of the crimes.
The Community Response Team and the
Heights Merchants Association are working with drug users in the area to
initiate and promote a safe syringe disposal program.
Hats Off Day is scheduled for
Saturday, June 04.
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Ms. Orazietti, Chair, provided a
monthly report of activities that took place in in District #2.
Ms. Orazietti expressed gratitude
for the support and guidance District #2 has received from the Burnaby RCMP.
The Business Watch and Crime Prevention teams have been very proactive with a
series of awareness seminars, including Senior Fraud, Financial Fraud
Awareness and Digital Tips.
The RCMP has also provided
assistance and strategies to a local business owner who is experiencing an
inordinate number of merchandise thefts.
Student representatives from Burnaby
North Secondary and Burnaby Mountain Secondary schools are continuing to
forward crime prevention information to their student communities through
Crime Prevention Clubs. Burnaby Mountain is currently undertaking an outreach/educational
program with local feeder schools.
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Ms.
McQueen, Chair, provided a monthly report which summarized activities that
took place in District #3.
District
#3 has further implemented initiatives in the District to mitigate Theft of/from
Auto to reduce crime levels. A more visible presence at the Edmond’s
Community Centre has also been implemented.
District
#3 will participate in the EPIC Edmonds Clean Sweep on May 07.
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Ms.
Gates, Chair, provided a report summarizing activities which took place in
District #4.
Ms. Gates highlighted discussions
around the impact of homelessness throughout Burnaby. The RCMP are
collaborating with the City to assist the homeless population through a
stepped approach and information regarding community support. Staff at
Bonsor Community Centre, the Bob Prittie Library and Metrotown Mall are
receiving training to develop strategies to assist with members of the
public suffering from mental health issues.
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MOVED BY Ms. orazietti
SECONDED BY Mr. hayes
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THAT
the agenda be varied to bring forward the Graffiti and Fire Department
reports.
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CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
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Cst. Murphy, Anti-Graffiti
Coordinator, submitted a report highlighting activities that took place in
January and February regarding the four elements of the Anti-Graffiti
Strategy (Eradication, Education, Prevention and Identification and Deterrence).
Cst. Murphy, provided an overview of
the Auxiliary Graffiti Training session that took place on 2016 February 23.
The eight RCMP Auxiliaries who attend the training session will take over the
Graffiti Busters program at Burnaby Mountain Secondary and assist with
establishing new Graffiti Busters’ pilot programs in other Burnaby high
schools. The team will also provide education packages to Burnaby businesses
regarding Burnaby’s Graffiti Program and participate in Graffiti Paint Outs.
The Graffiti Busters members at
Burnaby Mountain Secondary are currently working on a comic book and a video
highlighting the consequences of graffiti and the difference between graffiti
and art. Once completed, the information will be presented to feeder
schools.
On February 18, 2016 Burnaby RCMP
hosted a Graffiti Task Force meeting with police and city employees from
across the Lower Mainland to share common tags and in an effort to identify
the offender(s) and determine where they are actively offending.
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Joe Robertson, the new Fire Chief,
submitted a report summarizing fire department service delivery and
programs. The department is currently in a stage of transition with the
retirement of previous Fire Chief and an upcoming retirement of the Deputy Chief
Operations.
A recruit class of eleven new
members graduated on March 05. A mentorship program, unique to Burnaby, pairs
mentors with new recruits to instill the right attitude, teach the right
things and prepare the probationary firefighter to do the job correctly.
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C/Supt. Critchley provided the
Committee with an update regarding the five recent sexual assaults in Burnaby.
C/Supt. Critchley advised that of the five assaults, three were gropings near
Holdom, while the other two were violent assaults that transpired along the
Burnaby Mountain Urban Trail.
The Burnaby RCMP are using various
media forums to proactively warn the community regarding the assaults and to
appeal for witnesses to come forward. Although a dedicated team is permanently
in place to investigate all sexual assaults, the Task Force was struck to investigate
the violent assaults that transpired on the urban trail.
C/Supt. Critchley thanked Susan
Salame, Burnaby RCMP Crime Prevention Unit and Insp. Kathy Hartwig for the
‘Safe Communities’ education forums being offered throughout this year. The
forums have been established to connect with and bring awareness to the
community. On March 30 at Burnaby Mountain Secondary School, the Crime
Prevention Unit will be hosting a personal safety
awareness presentation entitled ‘How
Safe Are You?’. Forums are also being offered on ‘Senior Financial Fraud’ at
Bonsor Recreation Complex and a ‘Community Safety Forum’ at the Ismaili
Centre.
In January and February the traffic section
targeted high risk cross-walks to increase education and awareness regarding
pedestrian safety. Auxiliary Constables handed out reflective decals to
pedestrians. March is ‘Distracted Driving’ month and the traffic section
will focus on ensuring safe streets and driving habits.
Thefts from and of autos has
increased in District 1, 3 and 4; however, it has decreased in District 2.
The crime statistics have also decreased in Robbery, Break and Enter to Businesses
and Residential Break and Enters.
C/Supt. Critchley advised that
harassment complaints are increasing due to the internet, Facebook and other
social media forums.
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There
was no new business brought before the Committee at this time.
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There
were no inquiries brought before the Committee at this time.
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Public
excluded according to Sections 90 & 92 of the Community Charter
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MOVED BY mr. hayes
SECONDED BY councillor kang
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THAT
the ‘Open’ meeting does now recess.
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CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY
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The
meeting recessed at 7:42 p.m.
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MOVED
BY COUNCILLOR MCDONELL
SECONDED
BY COUNCILLOR KANG
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THAT
this meeting does now reconvene.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
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The meeting reconvened at 7:44 p.m.
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MOVED BY MR. HAYES
SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR KANG
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THAT
the 'Open' meeting does now adjourn.
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CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
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The
Open Committee meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
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________________________
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Eva
Prior
ADMINISTRATIVE
OFFICER
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Councillor
Pietro Calendino
CHAIR
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