Downtown Community Safety Task Force

Safer, cleaner neighbourhoods through proactive enforcement, effective policies and coordinated support.

I want Mission to be a community where people feel safe in their neighbourhoods and public spaces, businesses can thrive, employees feel comfortable coming to and from work, families feel welcome, and people who are vulnerable are treated with dignity and connected with the support they need.

We’ve made important investments in public safety and put new strategies, resources and enforcement tools in place. Now our focus needs to be on turning those investments into results people can see and experience in their everyday lives.

That means addressing community disorder, improving coordination between the organizations already doing this work, maintaining a visible public-safety presence and focusing our resources where they can make the greatest difference.

Public Safety Is About More Than Statistics

Crime statistics are important, but they don’t tell us everything about how people experience their community.

Someone repeatedly encountering disruptive behaviour downtown may not feel safer because a statistic has improved. A business dealing with problems outside its doors experiences public safety differently. So does an employee leaving work in the evening, a family using a park, or someone struggling with homelessness, mental health or addiction who needs appropriate support.

We need to pay attention to both: what the data tells us and what people are experiencing in their everyday lives.

That’s why I believe our next approach needs to be more coordinated, focused and measurable.

What’s Coming: A Downtown Community Safety Task Force

Different people experience these areas differently, and those perspectives need to be heard. By getting the right people around the same table, we can identify gaps, build on what’s already working and focus our resources where they can make the greatest difference.

This isn’t about any one group or any one solution. It’s about collaboration, accountability and practical action that makes our downtown and corridor safer and more welcoming for everyone.

Residents. Businesses. Employees. Families. People who need support. We all benefit from a safer, cleaner and better-connected community.

How We Get There

The goal isn’t to create another committee. It’s to develop a focused set of actions that Council can implement, measure and report back to the community.

Coordinate

Bring together RCMP, bylaws, City departments, businesses, employees, residents, outreach providers and community organizations so we’re sharing information, identifying gaps and making better use of the resources already available.

Focus

Identify recurring locations, behaviours and service gaps contributing to community disorder and focus resources where they’ll have the greatest impact.

That means listening to the people who experience these areas every day and combining those experiences with data from our public-safety agencies and service providers.

Act

Develop practical recommendations that Council and our community partners can actually implement.

Some solutions will be within the City’s control. Others will require partnerships with Fraser Health, service providers, senior governments or other agencies.

We need to clearly identify the difference—and advocate for action where responsibility falls outside municipal government.

Measure

Establish meaningful measures so we know whether conditions are actually improving.

Residents should be able to see what actions are being taken, what results we’re achieving and where additional work is required.

What I’ll Focus On

Visible Public Safety • Business & Employee Safety • Cleaner Public Spaces • Outreach & Support • Better Coordination • Measurable Results

Visible Public Safety

Continue working toward an appropriate and visible RCMP and bylaw presence, proactive enforcement and effective coverage when and where problems are occurring.

Enforcement isn’t the entire solution, but it is an important part of maintaining safe and welcoming public spaces.

Business & Employee Safety

Look at lighting, cleanliness, graffiti, litter, maintenance, environmental design and the way public spaces are managed. Give businesses and employees practical tools, support and a stronger voice in improving safety. Small improvements can make a significant difference in how an area looks, feels and functions.

Cleaner Public Spaces

Improve cleanliness, lighting, maintenance and design to create safer, more welcoming public spaces.

Outreach & Support

Better connect vulnerable people with appropriate health, housing, mental-health, addiction and community supports.

Better Coordination

Bring the City, first responders, businesses, residents and service providers together to identify gaps and coordinate solutions. If something isn’t working, we should be willing to change it. Ensure providers are accountable for the impacts their service bring.

Measurable Results

Set clear goals, track outcomes and publicly report whether our actions are making a meaningful difference.

Building on the Work Already Underway

We’re not starting from scratch.

During this term, Council made public safety a strategic priority and put several important pieces in place.

Mission adopted the 2023–2027 RCMP Strategic Plan, establishing priorities around community safety, crime reduction and proactive policing.

We’ve invested in additional public-safety resources and strengthened the City’s ability to respond through policing, bylaws and other municipal services.

Council has also strengthened enforcement tools and developed the Community Wellness Strategy, recognizing that community safety involves more than any single City department or organization.

These initiatives provide an important foundation.

The next challenge is ensuring that these resources, strategies and organizations are working together effectively—and that residents can see the results.

From Strategy to Results

Mission has already put important public-safety strategies, resources and partnerships in place.

The next step is turning that foundation into visible results.

That means listening to residents, businesses and employees. It means expecting accountability from the City and our partners. It means combining appropriate enforcement with effective services and support. And it means measuring whether the actions we take are actually making a difference.

I want a downtown where people want to visit and spend time. I want businesses to feel supported and employees to feel comfortable coming to work. I want families to feel welcome in our public spaces. And I want people who need help to have effective pathways to appropriate services.

There won’t be one solution to every public-safety challenge. But we can bring the right people together, identify what’s working and what’s missing, focus our resources and hold ourselves accountable for results.

That’s the approach I want to bring to the next term.