Alternative Response Unit Diverting Non-Emergency Calls For Police Force

A program developed in response to the ongoing pandemic and to limit the person-to-person contact is now diverting as many non-emergency calls for service as possible for the Saint John Police Force.

The Alternative Response Unit was created by the SJPF in August 2021.

“It was originally only a temporary measure, however, we had received a lot of positive feedback from our membership, so we made the decision to establish a full-time Alternative Response Unit,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Rocca, manager of corporate communications for SJPF.

So now, the Public Safety Communications Centre tries to divert as many non-emergency calls for service as possible that do not require an officer to respond in person.

“We established criteria of call types that could be redirected away from frontline patrol response to the Alternative Response Unit,” said Rocca.

“So, essentially, if a complainant calls and the Public Safety Communications Centre reviews the call and determines that the call meets the criteria then the call can be redirected to the Alternative Response Unit, and the complainant is called back by phone,” continued Rocca.

From there, depending on the nature of the complaint, the report is filed and then redirected to the appropriate division for further investigation, if required.

“This makes our officers more readily available for emergency calls and proactive policing measures,” said Rocca.

Since August 30, 2021, a total of approximately 1,618 calls have been diverted away from police officers allowing them to be more responsive in the community.

“We’ve also seen a reduction in drive time between calls, so many of these calls being redirected to the Alternative Response Unit reduces the amount of time that our officers spend on the road responding from one call to another,” mentioned Rocca.

He mentioned it also reduces the amount of administrative time that police officers spend filing reports that are now diverted to the unit.

Rocca mentioned the police force does expect a reduction in labour costs, however, it is too early to tell because the program has not been around for that long.

As well, cost savings for the police force does depend on the number of calls/types of calls the Alternative Response Unit receives.

The next phase for the program is to implement an online reporting system that will provide citizens with another platform for reporting to police and further increase the effectiveness of the service delivery model.