Police unveil new strategy to prioritize community safety in Mississauga and Brampton

In a press conference today (June 28), Peel Regional Police unveiled a new strategy to address community safety in the region.

Peel police’s Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) strategy — titled “A Way Forward” — was developed to help police respond to incidents that can’t be resolved with an arrest or traditional policing, such as issues of mental health, addiction, and homelessness.

The strategy aims to get people the help they need and reduce unnecessary interventions from police, while also being proactive in addressing issues that result in crime.

Examples of the strategy include offering counseling services to members of the community with drug addictions and those who are caught driving impaired, as well as partnering with other services in Peel to respond to incidents that have less to do with crime and more to do with complex social issues.

Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah called the strategy a “significant milestone” that will transform policing in Peel.

“The Community Safety and Well-Being framework is based on the idea that it is critical to focus more of our efforts ‘upstream’ to proactively identify and address issues that impact safety and well-being instead of concentrating downstream after an incident requiring police or other crisis-based services has already occurred,” said Duraiappah.

The strategy was developed after police saw a rise in “complex issues that go beyond the bounds of traditional policing.”

In 2021, police reportedly spent 41,000 hours on mental health calls, attended over 850 drug overdose incidents, and had an estimated 4,700 contacts with homeless individuals.

The strategy is divided in four parts:

• Incident Response: Deliver exemplary policing and investigative services, identify root causes of calls for service and put people on a pathway to the supports they need.
• Risk Intervention: Establish timely interventions to prevent the need for an urgent call to police. This includes creating connections to community programs and resources.
• Prevention: Develop strategies and initiatives to address issues that impact safety and wellbeing and prevent risk factors from materializing.
• Social Development: Advocate with police partners to ensure the community has the resources to meet Peel’s growing and diverse needs.

Police say they’ve been integrating a CSWB lens within their internal operations and looking at various issues differently, with the goal of identifying the root cause of specific calls for service and ensuring that people who are in need of help receive the right services at the right time.

“Our Way Forward is a living document intended to evolve in response to emerging issues and trends within Peel in dialogue with our partners and the communities we serve,” police said in a release.

The full strategy is outlined on Peel police’s website.