Moncton, province announce plan to increase powers of bylaw officers

Moncton by-law officers will soon have increased powers. I am very happy to announce a new pilot project to give police act powers to municipal by-law officers, enabling them to play a larger role in supporting the police. Thank you. We have some of them today. Thank you very much. Right now, the city's bylaw and community safety officers are limited in what calls they can respond to and how they protect themselves. But a coming special constable designation under New Brunswick's Police Act will change that. Currently our officers really don't have any tools on their belt, so to speak, to be able to defend themselves in the event that somebody wants to assault them, for example. Basically what this brings, first and foremost, it's going to provide some tools to our officers, such as batons, pepper spray, and the ability to detain individuals in certain circumstances. The new designation also allows officers to enter private property, something they can't do now. Public Safety Minister Robert Gauvin says proper training was a top concern for his department. Because people will be dealing with people in vulnerable situations, so we have to have people on the ground who are able to de-escalate situations, and that was mostly important. Moncton's community safety officers have already completed a two-year police foundation program, but the city is sending them for extra training in order to get the new designation. Mayor Sean Crossman campaigned on expanded powers for the city's community safety officers. The beauty part of this, the pilot project will show other communities across New Brunswick that if they have by-law officers, that this may be something that they could look at as well to help alleviate, obviously, the policing concern, number one, and allowing the RCMP to do that more high risk or those more important files. Training is expected to wrap up in mid-November, but it's still not clear when the officers will receive their special constable status. A city spokesperson said the city is still finalizing operational guidelines and procedures with the province.