Halifax's top safety officer gives sneak peek of crime-reduction strategy

Halifax's public safety officer told a police commissionmeeting on Monday afternoonthat he has come up with almost 80ideas for the city to implement that couldhelp reduce violence in the city.

On Monday, police statistics were released that show the Halifax region saw 18 per cent more assaultsin the first half of 2017 than inthe same period last year.

There were1,344 assaultsfrom the beginning of January until the end of June, which was207 more than during the same time frame in 2016.

The statistics come as municipal officials work on a new public safetystrategy.It got underway in 2016 after a number of gun-related killings. The strategy will outline ways the municipality can help reduce violence in the long run.

Concrete ideas

So far, public safety officer Ted Upshaw has come up with 78 ideas. One action Upshawwould likethe city's recreation departmentto take is to partner with the Halifax Regional School Board tohelp students who have been expelled.

"They still need to keep up with their studies, so the municipality canwork with the school board to help them out there," saidUpshaw.

He said reducing the cost of transit,assisting with food securityand encouraging affordable housing are other ways the municipality can create safer communities.

Police Chief Jean-Michel Blaissaid making more arrests isn't the solution to a safer city.

"We can't arrest ourselves out of this problem," he said."If we can improve people's lives, I'm convinced that we'll be able to see a decline [in arrests]."

The strategy should be ready for council by the end of October.