Canada/Positive results for the community agent project in Moncton after 5 years

Over the past five years, requests to the City of Moncton's Community Agents have skyrocketed. Their presence is increasingly felt in the community, where they work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

According to the City of Moncton Fire Department's Director of Community Safety and Fire Chief, Conrad Landry, nearly 12,000 calls were received by community officers in 2024.

He expects at least 10,000 calls this year.

The role of community officers in this program, born in April 2020, is to enforce municipal bylaws.

However, they do not have the same level of authority as RCMP officers.

A year that changed things for the better

In 2022, Moncton City Council approved the hiring of nine additional Community Constables.

We've seen numbers increase significantly since then. It really shows the effect and influence of these officers in the field," explains Conrad Landry.

The number of calls has increased over the past three years, as the agents have taken on a greater presence.

Nearly 3,000 calls were received in 2021, a number that quadrupled in 2024.

From community agent to peace officer

Conrad Landry and his team are preparing a proposal for the provincial government.

This proposal seeks authorization to allow them to appoint community agents to become peace officers.

By becoming peace officers, they would have more authority and more means to defend themselves.

According to Landry, community officers are sometimes the first to respond when RCMP officers have more urgent cases.

We're not trying to be policemen, we want to help and collaborate with the police force. If we didn't do this, the volume of RCMP calls would be even higher.

A quote from Conrad Landry, Moncton's Director of Community Safety

The Community Constable Program is currently looking for five officers to complete their team.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/