Stemming from the recent security action plan, Moncton City Council has decided to double the number of community safety officers it has from nine to 18.
The cost is just over $1 million and staff warned it could require a tax rate increase next year.
Deputy Mayor Bryan Butler said the city can’t dictate what Codiac RCMP does but it does have control over community safety officers.
“That is the only thing that we can actually say – we want you to patrol Givan Drive, Orchard Drive, all the other streets in the Old West End. We can tell them, we can direct them to go there.”
However, councillor Shawn Crossman did not support the move after getting clarification from staff that community safety officers can only enforce municipal bylaws and not criminal offences.
“They (drug users) can sit on the corner of Botsford and Main Street and shoot up and an RCMP or bylaw (officer) can go by and nothing is done. Nothing is done. So having presence in the neighborhood, I don’t know how much that’s going to change anything, quite honestly.”
Council also voted in favour of spending another $70,000 on cleaning up tent sites and another $10,000 to promote safety initiatives.
However, council voted against studying the use of surveillance cameras in the downtown at a cost of $40,000.
RELATED STORY: Moncton Security Plan Contains 22 Action Items
These items from the security action plan stem from a series of recent town hall meetings where residents raised issues surrounding crime, homelessness and drug use in their neighbourhoods.