Alternative Response Officers debut in downtown Regina

Seven of Regina’s new Alternative Response Officers (ARO) hit the streets on Thursday for the first time.

The special constables will work alongside armed officers already assigned to the downtown area. The AROs are expected to fulfill duties like patrolling the area, taking complaints, enforcing bylaws, provincial legislation and traffic support.

Lorilee Davies, deputy chief of operations with Regina Police Service, said the AROs will be tasked with dealing with many complex needs since police receive many calls that aren’t criminal in nature.

“Somebody looks vulnerable, people don’t know who to call, they call the police. And so our response really has to evolve with the times. And so they will be doing less arresting and putting people in jail, and more responding to the needs of the community and connecting people with services,” Davies said at a media event on Thursday.

She also said the officers will increase the sense of safety downtown.

Davies said the AROs’ special constable status comes with limited powers and lower pay.

Coun. Lori Bresciani, who is on Regina’s Board of Police Commissioners, also agreed that residents will feel safer downtown with more officers present.

“Of the things that we’ve always heard is people do not want to come downtown because they feel it’s unsafe,” Bresciani said. “Our job as a board is to look at, how can we increase safety, but also in the most economical way.”

“We know that cities across Canada have looked at this model and Saskatoon has done a lot of work, and so when they brought in the ARO program there, the success they’ve had was incredible… we knew that we had to bring it here.”

The AROs will also work with the Regina Street Team, nearby business owners, security officers and community members.
Mayor Sandra Masters said the inclusion of AROs is part of the overall measure to increase safety and draw more people to the area. She’s hopeful for a positive impact within a year.

“(Once) the AROs are present and have built those relationships with community, we’ve got an enhanced street team, we’ve got a clean team downtown — I think what you’re going to see is a really clean, safe, vibrant downtown where folks feel safe to come to work,” Masters said.

“Folks (will) feel safe to come to the Globe Theater after night because we know that opens this fall as well. It really is about putting more people on the street. We want we want folks to feel safe.”

After the AROs’ training is completed in January, pairs of AROs will be assigned to two overlapping 10-hour shifts. Their shifts provide coverage from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.