The City of Trail will look at creating a seven-day-per-week “community safety patrol.”
Councillor Nick Cashol proposed the idea in response to concerns raised by downtown businesses about open drug use, vandalism, and other public disorder.
Cashol said the local RCMP detachment is understaffed, limiting their abilities to do proactive patrols, and the city’s bylaw team is already stretched to its limit Monday through Friday. He said business owners are frustrated because it’s not always clear who is responsible for what.
Cashol’s motion asked staff to find out how much it would cost to have contracted security personnel based out of a small downtown office and to identify potential funding sources and an oversight and reporting structure.
“This would not replace police work, but supplement it through deterrence, observation, reporting, and response coordination,” Cashol said. “This is not about criminalizing homelessness or addiction. The purpose is to address public disorder, safety and accountability in shared places.”
Cashol said his model could also refer people to outreach services while maintaining public order. He said options could include a pilot project or seasonal deployment.
Cashol added his motion wasn’t prompted by a single letter, but by multiple letters, emails, conversations, and his own observations.
The motion, which doesn’t commit the city to spending any money for the moment, passed unanimously.
It comes on the heels of a recent internal survey of the city’s community safety task force, which has representation from various agencies.
The results found that while members value existing security patrols in principle, “its current execution does not fully meet expectations.”
According to a summary provided to council: “Frustrations were raised about incident reporting practices, with examples of delayed communication to the RCMP and doubts about whether the patrols are delivering meaningful deterrence.
“Members want to see fewer complaints, less vandalism, and improved safety for vulnerable residents. Several noted that success should be measured by whether patrols reduce the need for businesses and the public to constantly report issues.”
Six recommendations were presented, including strengthening incident reporting protocols, introducing randomized patrols, and measuring success through both crime stats and community satisfaction.
The survey is expected to be extended to the business community.
