Kris Austin on tour to market crime-reduction plan to N.B. officials

New Brunswick's public safety minister has embarkedon a tour of the province to elicit feedback from local officials on how heplans to tackle crime.

Kris Austin was in Miramichirecently for the first of 12 stops to market his "safer communities action plan."

Department of Public Safety spokesperson AllanDearingsaid Austin was unavailable last week foran interview about the meetings. CBCNews later askedDearing for any information about the meetings but he did not respond.

However, parts of Austin's presentation were shared on Facebook by Miramichi MLA Michelle Conroy.

"We had a great turnout of officers, medics and first responders last night at the Crime Reduction meeting in Newcastle with Minister Kris Austin, Deputy Minister Mike Comeau and the team from [the Department]of Public Safety," said Conroy,in her online post.

"This was their first meeting of 12 across the province for discussions on what is being done and what more can be done to reduce crime in NB."

CBC News also requested an interview with Conroyabout the meeting, but did not receive a response.

Compassionate Intervention Act to be proposed

As part of her post, Conroy shared pictures ofslides from the presentation.

One of them, titled "Safer Communities Action Plan Items,"showed a table with a series of strategic priorities along withtimelines for implementing them.

The priorities were split into four categories around added law enforcement, increasedpartnerships, modernizing legislation and optimizing the criminal justice system.

Some of the priorities have been previously shared by the province, including the plan to hire 80 more RCMP officers, as well as equipping peace officers with carbines and Tasers.

Other priorities hadn't been publicly shared before, such as a plan to propose a "Compassionate Intervention Act" by the end of October.

Other items not revealed before included a "trespass proposal," a "security guard proposal," the creation of a central New Brunswick correctional centre, as well as a "specialized policing model."

Conroyalso posted a photo showing a slide titled "Crime Rate and Policing Trends,"whichshowedstatistics on New Brunswick's crime rate, its rate of police officers per 100,000 peopleand the rate of crimes solved,compared to the national average.

Tour comes amid dissatisfaction with police services

Austin's tour is the latest in his government's tough-on-crime approach, which has taken particular aim at stamping out illegal drugs by going after alleged dealers.

It's also happening amid dissatisfaction with policing services in the province particularly the Mounties, who provide policing to the City of Monctonand to smaller municipalities not covered by a municipal police force.

High-profile acts of vigilante justice in the past year have shone a spotlight on that dissatisfaction, with Saint Andrews Mayor Brad Henderson saying in July that public confidence in police in his community was "at an all-time low."

A positive perspective

Jeffrey Sheasgreen, a Miramichi River Valley councillor,has a more positive perspective on the crime and policing situation in his newly formed municipality, which isjust west of Miramichi.

Heattended the meeting in Miramichi last week and said hewas pleased with what he heard.

"I think the RCMP, and all all our peace officers and stuff, are doing a great job and, you know, I think the plan going forward is good," Sheasgreen said.

"If we're employing more people, more officers, then of course that's going to help us, right? It's going to get a better feeling from people in the public when they see more police officers on the go all the time."

Sheasgreensaid Austin also discussed plans to provide more assistance to places like Harvest House Miramichi, which offer helpfor those facing addictionand homelessness.

Last spring, the provincial government announced it was spending $32.6 million to hire 80 more RCMP officers and increase police visibility.

The province also announced it was increasing its funding for various addiction and mental health supports by $5.1 millionand was putting $3.7 million toward reducingthe rates of inmates re-offending.