(Dreamstime.com/Katarzyna Bialasiewicz)

By Josh Hall

CRISIS TEAM TO HANDLE SOME CALLS INSTEAD OF POLICE

Pilot project to redirect up to 5,000 911 calls in Red Deer

Sep 2, 2020 | 2:42 PM

RED DEER, AB. — The City of Red Deer will launch a one-year pilot aimed at diverting calls away from 911 and towards agencies better suited to help people in non-emergency crisis situations.

The Social Diversion program could redirect around 5,000, or 30 per cent of all 911 calls Planning Manager Tricia Hercina said Monday. Instead, concerned citizens will call 211.

City council approved the pilot which comes with a $525,000 cost to the City, while the rest ($239,000) is funded by provincial OSSI dollars and the federal Reaching Home initiative.

Red Deer will become the fifth Alberta city to launch such a program, joining Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Grande Prairie.

“Community safety is much more than policing and enforcement,” said Hercina. “This pilot represents an intervention-style, non-emergency approach.”

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

The concept for the pilot was created by the Systems Leadership Team (SLT), a committee comprised of leaders from various agencies and organizations in the city.

Red Deer RCMP Superintendent Gerald Grobmeier is a member of the SLT and noted the benefit to his detachment.

“The biggest impacted (area) for members would be dealing with the hand-off of individuals that really don’t need police intervention. We can only arrest, escort someone to hospital, or release them,” Grobmeier told council. “With this type of team, someone can come down to work with that individual. It may just be they need a place to stay or a person to talk to. The team can interact with and get them to the places they need to go instead of tying up police officers.”

In Edmonton, there is the REACH program that receives 1,300 calls monthly. According to data, that program is saving $1.91 for every dollar invested into REACH.

In Red Deer, the pilot will operate on a contract basis for 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week. Exact hours are to be determined.

“One of the greatest frustrations I hear from community members is when council spends time, energy and resources to consult with our public on the problems of the day, we develop a comprehensive plan, publicly present that glossy plan of how we’re going to solve the very problems our citizens have very rightfully identified, and then the plan sits on a shelf, and the transformative change it promises fails to actually occur,” said Mayor Tara Veer.

“We have to follow through and support this initiative in order to bring the transformative change our community is expecting from us.”

Veer noted that the pilot was born out of council’s Community Safety Strategy.

Councillor Lawrence Lee was the lone dissenting vote on Monday, though he was not the only one to raise concerns with the timing of the funding request.

He and others noted that with budget just months away it could make more sense to wait. However, Hercina noted that it would be helpful to get this program in place before winter weather becomes too severe.

It was also noted that health and housing fall under the province’s jurisdiction, so that advocacy would be helpful in the future to perhaps have this program funded less by municipal taxpayers.

“I think this pilot relies on our community to care for the safety of one another. They may see someone through a window they perceive is in crisis and could use support,” says Hercina. “There would not be a requirement to go and speak to them, though many folks would. But if you’re uncomfortable, we still encourage you to call and create the opportunity for that person to get help if they need it.”

Hercina says the program should be in place by November.

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.