When it comes to crime reduction, the solutions offered are usually familiar and fall under the umbrella of the justice system. They’re about the number of police officers, who they work for and the laws of the land.

Darlene Wilson, community facilitator with the City of Red Deer social planning department, giving her presentation at a CAPRA meeting at the Dawe Centre.

But as discussed at a recent meeting by the Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance, there's a new way of thinking when it comes to public safety, called Red Deer’s Community Safety Strategy, which has been implemented for a year now.

The strategy is multi-pronged, focused on: education, prevention, intervention and enforcement. Community participation is a priority.

“This allows any person, family, neighbourhood, agency, to find their role in keeping their community safe. So movement away from just enforcing to a broad-spectrum approach which includes education, prevention, intervention and enforcement,” said Darlene Wilson, a community facilitator in the city’s social planning department.

“You cannot keep increasing police budgets. And it’s exhausting for police as well. The community that most of us want to live in are where we feel empowered, and recognize other partners that are empowered in the roles that they have expertise in.”

Wilson said the preventative approach has been taken since the 1980s. An example she gave of it in practice would be the new public basketball courts in Lacombe, which give youth a place to play instead of getting into trouble.

Another goal is to get human service professionals to work more collaboratively, as issues like poor graduation rates, mental health or addiction are connected.

The strategy recommends forming something similar to The Hub in Prince Albert, Sask., a regular meeting of front-line workers and police.

Gathering and convening partners would be the municipality’s job, Wilson said.

“The community has the answers. So we wanted to bring them together to share those answers and solutions with us,” she said.

“We’re all working hard. There’s lots of great work happening in Red Deer. How do we work more efficiently, more effectively, still connected to this larger mandate.”