Residents in five of Saint John’s mostly low-income communities are upset their community policing will be eliminated due to deep budgets made by the city.
Penni Eisenhauer lives in the Waterloo Village area of the Saint John’s uptown. She says officers will no longer be able to attend events that link police to residents.
"It's taken a long time to build a trust,” says Eisenhauer. "The visibility and the credibility and the rapport that the police officer builds (is important). People know the police officer."
Saint John council approved a budget last week that would see police and fire services each reduced by $1.25 million. The move was made in an attempt to get spending under control, but residents say it will have a major impact.
"Seniors feel that, if there's an issue, I have the number where they can call. It's not calling the emergency number. They call and talk to that police officer and that makes a big difference," says Linda Scott of the Waterloo Village Association.
Resident Barry Galloway says community policing pays for itself in the long run.
"We have the evidence. This has been going on for a number of years and you can watch how the crime rate has decreased year after year after year," says Galloway.
A spokesman for the Saint John Police Commission says they understand the importance of community policing and they are aware of neighbourhood concerns, but they won't commit to restoring the program.
"We're hoping that it's turned around and it's back to the five community police officers. Not four or three. We need our five community police officers," says Mary Lesage of Pulse Saint John.
In the meantime, the plan calls for community police officers to be reassigned back into regular patrol duties.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.
