2019 Recipients

Changing Directions is a pilot project with the objective of targeting the root causes of crime and stopping the cycle of arrest—court—incarceration for high needs justice involved clients. The long-term goal of the project is to make New Brunswick communities safer and to improve the use of collective resources. High needs justice-involved clients place substantial demands on the justice, health and social systems of the province.

The Changing Directions Pilot Project would not be possible without the hard work, flexibility, and dedication of the Changing Directions Case Managers: Nathalie Belliveau, Myriam Lachapelle, Nadia Sisk and Judy Young.

Nathalie, Myriam, Nadia and Judy use evidence-based interventions to tackle the root causes of offending behaviour, including addiction, attitudes supportive of crime, lack of housing, lack of education and employment. The Case Managers meet with their clients weekly and coordinate monthly Case Management Team meetings which bring together service provides from over 10 partner agencies to develop individualized case plans for each client. 

Hana is a high school student who, with the help of her committee, pioneered the MADD Dash event at Hampton High—an event that brought together all three local policing agencies to raise awareness and educate the community on impaired driving.

Hana showed incredible leadership by stepping up to secure funding, partnerships and participants for the event. Hana and her team ensured that video was taken of the event to ensure
                                                           messages from the event can be carried on.

The Saint John Police Force’s Crime Reduction Team has been working diligently to prevent crime in the Saint John area. David Hartley-Brown, Don Metcalfe, Duane Squires and Cory Jamieson have implemented the following programs with great success:

• A community collaboration to address several issues related to driving safety has resulted in Signs for Safety. This was a partnership between the Saint John Police Force, the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force, MADD Saint John and local municipalities and businesses. The project coordinated privately owned digital displays located across Saint John, Quispamsis, Rothesay and Grand-Bay Westfield to display message about distracted and impaired driving.
• Walk with a Cop: The Crime Reduction Team implemented Walk with a Cop to better engage community members in a comfortable setting. The program allowed residents to book with Cst. Squires to discuss areas of concern related to crime and safety in their neighbourhoods.
• Community Support Cards are an attempt to engage people who have previously offended by recognizing that they may be struggling. The cards contained contact information for the main support services for mental health and addiction issues. The cards let people know that help is available and will hopefully reduce re-offending.
• The DARE Role Models program was an initiative that the Crime Reduction Team partnered with Megan Donovan, Principal of Hazen White-St. Francis School. The Team invited DARE graduates to become DARE Role Models. The Role Models spent their lunch hours volunteering to help younger students with their homework, learning new sports, learning Arabic and promoting the values of DARE.
• The Crime Reduction Team partnered with the Saint John Newcomers Multicultural Resource Centre and the Crime Prevention Association of New Brunswick to develop educational videos for newcomers to the Saint John area. The videos explain how and when to call 911, intimate partner violence, safe driving and mental health crisis protocol. The videos will be available on local websites in English, French, Arabic and Mandarin.
• Together We Care was an event aimed at busting the common misconception that there are not enough community resources available to help people in need. The Crime Reduction Team partnered with Mary Lesage from PULSE--People United Lower South End; Samantha Wentzell and Heather Chase of Horizon Health; and Randy Hatfield and Kent Ross of the Saint John Human Development Council to host an event that would spread awareness and build connections between community-based organizations, government staff and the community. More than 80 exhibitors and over 300 community members attended to learn about the resources available to them.
• The Crime Reduction Team implemented a distracted and impaired driving workshop at local high schools. The event, supported by MADD Saint John, and Andrew Savoy from the University of New Brunswick, allowed students to engage driving simulators, Drug Recognition Experts, Field Sobriety Tests, impaired vision goggles, statistics and a social media booth.

Shara Munn has gone above and beyond to keep the Kennebecasis Valley safe from dangers associated with the internet and cellphones. Despite her hectic work schedule and personal obligations, Shara has made every effort to support the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force by educating youth and parents on cyber bullying, child luring, and dangerous cellphone apps. She also gave a presentation to Harry Miller Middle School on How to Stay in School and Out of Court. Shara’s presentations equipped parents with the skills and
                                                            knowledge they would need to intervene in a dangerous
                                                            technology related situation.

Cst. Shawn Toner has served with the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force for eight years. Cst. Toner has not only taken to serving his community, but he also works to keep the Force healthy. Cst. Toner initiated a Music Therapy Session at his home to support the positive mental health of the team, to reduce stress and build healthy coping mechanisms.

Cst. Toner also volunteers for Love is Respect, WITS, an Elementary School anti-bullying program, community BBQs to support families in need and the Tanya Shand Memorial Milk and Cookie Run.

Dipu Rahman, Steve Kelley and Bruce MacMillan at the Atlantic Superstore in Rothesay have been supporting activities of the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force for the past five years, by donating Hallowe’en candy for police officers to distribute, sponsoring community barbecues and community relations events.

The Atlantic Superstore has donated food, ginger bread houses and gifts for the Force’s annual Christmas Party for local families in need. The Atlantic Superstore also sponsors local domestic and intimate partner violence initiatives such as the Love is Respect campaign and the annual Tanya Shand Memorial Milk and Cookie Fun Run which helps support women and children leaving violence relationships in the Kennebecasis Valley.

The team at the Atlantic Superstore has taken the initiative to begin the annual Fill the Police Truck food drive, which takes place every fall to support local community members. The Atlantic Superstore has shown amazing support to the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force by continuously donating or discounting store merchandise to support the police charities—the Community Advancement Program and the Law Enforcement Special Olympics Torch Run.

Community events are an excellent opportunity for community members to meet and interact with local police to bridge the gap, while providing community members the chance to learn about services available to them. Community events like these wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of Dipu Rahman, Steve Kelley and Bruce Macmillan. The team at the Atlantic Superstore in Rothesay is an excellent example of the private sector supporting crime prevention initiatives and putting their community first. Crime prevention and reduction often happens in small efforts by the community.

The Atlantic Superstore in Rothesay was nominated by Cpl. Eugene Belliveau who has first hand experience of the generosity and support of Dipu, Steve and Bruce.

In his 36 years of policing, Sgt. Robert Bruce has been ever-present at several crime prevention and community engagement initiatives in Miramichi. Sgt. Bruce launched the Zero Tolerance project in 1996. He volunteered countless hours to restore a 1976 Corvette Stingray, which became a mascot for the Force, sparking conversations with community members on the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The Corvette could be seen all over New Brunswick promoting the Zero Tolerance message. Sgt. Bruce also restored a retired GuardaWorld armoured vehicle for use by the Emergency Response team as an emergency vehicle.

In 2001, Sgt. Bruce began coordinating the Kids N Kops program in partnership with Miramichi’s Big Brothers Big Sisters. Sgt. Bruce used his vacation time to run a five-day mini-police academy for Junior Cadets. Sgt. Bruce was recognized by the Crime Prevention Association of New Brunswick (CPANB) in 2009 for Kids N Kops and continued to run this program for five more years.  In 2017, Sgt. Bruce took over as coordinator for the Force’s Senior Police Academy.

Sgt. Bruce has taken an active role in policing education. For the last 20 years, Sgt. Bruce has been a leader in building strong relationships between NBCC and the Miramichi Police Force—so much so that he began providing lectures to the Police Foundations and Corrections classes.  Sgt. Bruce has also been the Practicum Coordinator since 2005, helping students bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world experiences. Off duty, Sgt. Bruce can be found at NBCC running the Physical Ability Requirement Evaluation with Police Foundations students 40+ years his junior, or delivering presentations in the classroom.

Sgt. Bruce was recognized by the New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police for his involvement in the New Brunswick-wide response by New Brunswick Policing Agencies to the tragedy that shook Fredericton on August 10, 2018. Sgt. Bruce was instrumental in the organization and execution of an integrated plan to continue policing the City of Fredericton for 10 days after the event, providing members of the Fredericton Police Force time to mourn and grieve their fallen colleagues. Many were involved in the response from across the province, but Sgt. Bruce was nominated and identified for his exemplary leadership during that time—coordinating, assisting and leading those on the ground.

Sgt. Bruce was nominated for his efforts as a mentor by his daughters, Stephanie, Sueanne, and Sophie and his partner Evelyn.