Police chief, expert say hiring more officers will not lead to lower crime rate

Last week, the Saint John Police Force made a big arrest.

"It was a great operation and we got one drug dealer off the street — a very significant drug dealer," police Chief Robert Bruce said.

But the drugs will keep coming.

"There's another one ready to go and step in, because we haven't really [supported] the people with substance use issues," said Bruce. "It's supply and demand."

The ratio of police officers to New Brunswickers is the lowest it's been since Statistics Canada started counting in 1989. Meanwhile the crime severity index, according to Statistics Canada, is close to an all-time high. 

A criminologist and the police chief both say it's tempting to connect the two numbers — a lack of police causing the rise in crime severity — but that's not accurate.

While his force, funded by the city, could always use more resources, Bruce said, simply increasing the number of police officers won't address social issues like addiction and lack of mental health services that are at the heart of some crime increases. 

"You could say, 'well, let's add 20 more cops to the street.' But is that really going to solve those issues? And the answer is no. Could we use more police officers? Absolutely … but we need to work more collaboratively."

More than 20% increase in police budget

In its recent budget, the provincial government said it will be spending $32.6 million to add 80 more RCMP officers and creating new major case and organized crime teams, staffed by provincial peace officers.

The estimate for total spending on community safety went up 20 per cent compared to last year. For addiction and mental health services, the estimate increased by 13 per cent.

Jean Sauvageau, a professor of criminology at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, said the large increase in police spending is a "classic reflex" to a rising crime rate, and it won't work to address it.

"It's not demonstrated by studies at all, especially in New Brunswick," he said. "This I would call first-degree logic."

He said crime rates are dependent on various social, economic and sometimes political factors. There has not been a conclusive link drawn between more police and declining crime rates, he said, and people are less likely to commit crimes if their health and educational needs are met.

Estimates provided by the Saint John Police Force show officers responded to 39 per cent more overdose calls between 2021 and 2022.

Between March 2022 and March 2023, there were 300 separate incidents under the Mental Health Act, the force said. Mental health "related" calls are significantly higher, said Sgt. Stephen Davidson, at 1,925 files in 2022. However, these numbers are not a complete picture.  

"A call for an assault, for example, may end up having a mental health aspect to it, although it's not classified as such and therefore is not recorded as a mental health call for service," Davidson said.

Working with advocates

Bruce said part of the force's response to rising crime rates has been to start meeting with harm reduction, mental health and homelessness advocacy groups to find out what they can do with the resources they have and how much more they need. 

He said the goal is to come up with a funding proposal they will take to all levels of government, and find a way to address health and social issues before they require police intervention.

"When every other entity breaks down we're the last resort," he said. "And usually that doesn't end well, if it ends with police. Because if you're at the end, it's usually you're going to jail or you've died."

Bruce said since he started meeting with the Community Action Committee almost a year ago, he's learned to look at the systems and the bigger picture that's resulted in someone's behaviour, rather than judging the person immediately.

"I know sometimes the narrative is 'hey, well you got yourself into this position. Too bad. So sad,'" he said. "Well, there's a whole story behind that. It goes way back. It's deep rooted."