Sackville’s community policing officer has left her job after one and a half years.
Lise Babineau started as Community Program Officer (CPO) at the height of the pandemic, in October 2020. According to her monthly reports to council, the CPO visited schools and delivered a substance abuse prevention program called Botvin Lifeskills Training. Though various councillors had requested that Babineau come talk about her work at council, she never appeared in a public meeting.
In presenting a public safety report to council in April, Councillor Andrew Black said that RCMP Sergeant Paul Gagne called Babineau “highly competent and committed” and said that she would be “sorely missed by the department and the town.”
Babineau’s position is not included in the RCMP union contract, but is negotiated as an additional position under the town’s Municipal Police Services Agreement (MPSA). The town of Sackville budgets $90,000 for the position, plus $3,250 for project expenses.
At April’s meeting, Councillor Sabine Dietz asked CAO Jamie Burke about whether or not the town intended to replace the departing CPO. Burke responded yes, and explained that the RCMP had already reached out to him to confirm the hiring process that would be used.
“It hasn’t been that long since we hired Lise [Babineau], so they wanted to confirm that we would use the same process as last time,” said Burke. During the last hiring process, recreation director Matt Pryde sat in to represent the town, and Burke said the intention would be to do that again.
No position review before re-hiring
Burke later explained that the CPO position would not be reviewed by council before being filled, unless council voted to postpone the hiring process and consider making changes to the contract with the RCMP. Treasurer Michael Beal explained that the town has an agreement with the RCMP to fund the CPO position, and so the RCMP will proceed to rehire unless that agreement is ended by council.
“If council, now that they’re aware of a vacancy, wish to reconsider that position, council should pass a resolution asking the RCMP to delay the hiring,” said Beal. “Now would be the ideal opportunity to have to have it take place,” said Beal, because once the position is filled, there would be a delay in decommissioning it.
Some towns and cities in North America have been experimenting with hiring social workers or mental health professionals to work with police and other first responders, particularly when it comes to issues involving domestic violence, addiction, and mental health.
In his March quarterly report to council, Gagné noted high numbers of mental health related calls. “The fact that Mental Health Act investigations are highlighted as number three [on a list of most frequent daily occurences] is a good indicator how much mental health is a contributing factor in the demand for calls for service,” Gagne told council. “I would encourage the fact that we need to look at that more and more as a society for sure.”
RCMP community engagement on hold again
One of the tasks that Babineau was meant to take on during her tenure was leading a community engagement process around the priorities of the RCMP in Sackville, a process that was delayed due to various waves of the pandemic. CAO Jamie Burke says he will be updating council on plans for consultation at the next meeting on Monday, May 9.
Community engagement with the RCMP has varied over the years. From about 2009-2011, Sackville had a police advisory committee made up of citizens. In the years between his terms on council, current mayor Shawn Mesheau sat on and chaired the committee, which was disbanded by Mayor Pat Estabrooks in 2011.
As a councillor back in 2020, Mesheau advocated for the possible re-creation of a police advisory committee. At the time, he told CHMA that the previous committee had engaged with schools, seniors groups, and others about their needs when it came to policing. They also met with the local RCMP, and brought recommendations to council for consideration.
Mesheau says that he did raise the possibility of a new advisory committee with the RCMP and town staff last summer, and thereafter the plan was hatched for the local detachment to engage with the community. Mesheau wrote via email that he believes, “it would be in the best interest of the new community and new council that some means, such as an advisory committee, needs to be put in place to ensure we are on top of the policing needs of the larger community.”
