Bylaw officers to provide extra security in downtown Sudbury

There is a new level of service about to be tested in Greater Sudbury that is meant to help improve the perception of the downtown core.

During budget deliberations in December, city council approved a business case for a seven-month pilot project assigning bylaw officers to the downtown.

The price tag for the project is $275,576. Of that, $50,000 is coming from the Downtown Business Improvement Area (BIA), while the remainder comes from cannabis funding. That's provincial funding provided to municipalities to ease the transition to legalized cannabis.

The pilot is expected to run between April and November.

The City of Greater Sudbury has posted the positions, looking to soon hire three full-time and three part-time bylaw officers, says Brendan Adair, manager of security and bylaw services.

The qualifications are slightly different than for those who function as a typical bylaw officer.

"We're looking for people with security experience and enforcement experience," he said, adding that candidates should also be good at communicating, because they'll be interacting with people and working to resolve conflicts.

Current bylaw officers don't respond to security concerns. Most of their calls are complaint-driven and are reactive and involve writing tickets to anyone violating a city bylaw.

"It is a new service level for us, and a different position than people would be accustomed to in terms of a bylaw officer."

Downtown bylaw: More proactive than reactive

Adair says the new bylaw service downtown will be both proactive and reactive.

"Proactive — we want to be visible and present in city facilities, as well as in the downtown core, such as Memorial Park, and areas like that."

However, he adds that the new bylaw officers could still write tickets, but that's not the goal.

"At the end of the day, we hope that this adds a perception of safety, both for staff and residents of the downtown facilities, as well, as on board buses and at the transit terminal," he said.

Adair likens the new positions to that of security guards. There will be two bylaw officers on-shift at all times between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 a.m.

Downtown facilities of focus for the bylaw efforts will be the GOVA Transit terminal on Elm Street, as well as buses, the Greater Sudbury Public Library on Mackenzie Street, Tom Davis Square on Brady Street, the Sudbury Community Arena on Elgin Street and Memorial Park on Minto Street.

However, the two bylaw officers patrolling together will be mobile, so Adair says they could respond to concerns at any other municipal facility in the city.

Since the downtown is the focus, most of their daily patrols will be in that area.

Working with, not replacing police 

"We hope to also have a presence in terms of a uniform body and eyes on what's going on, and being able to collaborate with police." 

But Adair is quick to mention that the new downtown bylaw officers won't be replacing police officers.

"These staff aren't taking over for police calls, for serious issues that we've seen at transit for example, that's a police matter and we'll support police through that."

The pilot project will have the downtown bylaw officers responding to non-criminal calls, like someone loitering or causing a disturbance.

"Sometimes police — based on their call volume — have a challenge to get there, so we want to support police with their calls for service, as well as support [municipal] staff who are dealing with these issues in our facilities," he said.

Bylaw services will also be partnering with mental health and addiction agencies, so the bylaw officers can connect individuals with those types of services. 

Respond to staff calls

Adair explains that if a problem or conflict arises at a municipal facility, the staff there can contact the new downtown bylaw officers to respond.

"Because at the end of the day, our facilities are safe, and we want people to feel that when they are using our services," he said.

Once the pilot program wraps up, Adair says the statistics will be compiled to determine if the level of service is permanently needed in the downtown. That report will go before Sudbury city council before any decision is made.