Community Action Team (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

Alberta

City/ Region:

Edmonton

Description of Initiative:

The Community Action Team (CAT) is a mobile team devised to disrupt and reduce violence in neighbourhoods where there is persistent disorder.

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) deploys CATs to high-risk places and neighbourhoods to reduce the severity, frequency, and fear and perception of violence and disorder. CAT is a mobile police unit created to identify and target distressed, at-risk communities in the city. It is supplemented by a variety of community partners. CAT deployments are intended to be deliberate and focused, deploying a maximum-contact, high-visibility team to saturate locations experiencing enduring violence. CAT targets neighbourhoods that have a higher frequency of violence over sustained periods of time compared to other neighbourhoods.

Initiative Key Objectives:

Reduce the frequency, severity, fear and perception of violence.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Office of Violence Reduction

Key Contact:

Lee Bieraugle
Lee.Bieraugle@edmontonpolice.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

  • community groups
  • other police services
  • private agencies/corporations
  • other government departments/agencies
  • other government departments/agencies - cooperative (direct involvement)
  • community services, community leagues, community members, private businesses, EPS cadets, community police radio network, Edmonton Transit security, City of Edmonton security, Alberta Liquor Control Board, Public Safety Compliance Team, OTS

Level of Involvement (consultative - information sharing) and/or cooperative - direct involvement):

N/A

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

The first CAT deployment was in September 2011.

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

This initiative was started due to ongoing community safety concerns and the need to disrupt the precursors of crime in distressed communities through prevention, intervention and suppression techniques.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

There are minimal extra costs in setting up the deployments. The personnel are contributed “in-kind” from their respective divisions and are redeployed for the CAT. There are also numerous volunteers from multiple other agencies.

Method of Implementation:

It was created in a pilot form in a specific area prior to being implemented on a larger scale throughout the city.

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

Key outcomes are: public reassurance through highly visible intelligence-led policing; decreased victimization by providing a platform for outreach to vulnerable populations; public empowerment and decreased fear through education and community involvement.

Police and social agencies working together have a significant positive impact on the deployment areas, leading to increased community safety.

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

Yes

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

Communication strategies are developed for each deployment as they are all unique. A deployment focused on “suppression” would likely not have a large media component as it may hinder the deployment. A deployment focused on “prevention” would likely have a larger communication strategy and involve a more diverse group of community partners.

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

  • internal (in-house)
  • quantitative
  • qualitative

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

No

Summary of the Outcomes:

N/A

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

Although there are numerous samples of data collected, the main ones are number of arrests, warrants executed, criminal charges laid, provincial/bylaw charges laid and public interactions.

Economics of Policing Pillars:

Further Details:

N/A

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

N/A

Record Entry Date:

2015-03-01

Date modified: