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New three-year strategic plan to help guide police service’s community work

The police agency (MJPS) unveiled its 2023-26 document during the Board of Police Commissioners’ meeting at the Moose Jaw Public Library on June 8. 
Moose Jaw police 6
Moose Jaw Police Service. Photo by Jason G. Antonio

The Moose Jaw Police Service has released its new three-year strategic plan, which lays out the objectives it wants to pursue and gives it direction for its work.

The police agency (MJPS) unveiled its 2023-26 document during the Board of Police Commissioners’ meeting at the Moose Jaw Public Library on June 8. 

“It will guide our work. And there was a lot of community involvement in creating this plan,” said Police Chief Rick Bourassa, noting the board “worked very heavily” on this new plan in conjunction with police administration and contractor Praxis Consulting.

The board hired Praxis last September for $15,000 to help craft a new strategic plan, which was originally going to be a five-year document. 

The strategic map’s “hope and dream” is for the City of Moose Jaw “to be a vibrant, inclusive and safe community,” while the vision is for the police service to be a “diverse, progressive and trusted partner” that ensures community safety for everyone.

Further, the mission is for the MJPS to be a “community-focused safety agency responsible for peacekeeping, crime prevention, law enforcement and community building.”

The document lists five values: integrity, community, service excellence, inclusion, and accountability. 

With integrity, the police service wants to “earn the trust” of those its services through reliability and honesty. 

With community, the organization wants to be a team player that works with the community and residents.

With service excellence, the MJPS wants to be “progressive, innovative and responsive” in meeting the needs of those its serves.

With inclusion, the organization wants to be “respectful and empathetic” where everyone feels safe to contribute.

With accountability, the police agency wants to be responsible for its actions.

Lastly, the document’s “strategic imperative” focuses on public confidence.

During a media scrum afterward, Bourassa explained that the MJPS and board have had a strategic plan for years but hadn’t gone through a formal process recently to create a new one. During discussions over the past year, the board determined it was time for a new guiding strategic document. 

Praxis Consulting conducted interviews with several community groups, including the Moose Jaw Police Service and other social agencies, he continued. With data in hand, the consulting firm helped guide the board and police service to create a plan that included community priorities and important focus areas. 

The police service plans to release the full document on its website soon.

“We just sort of wrapped up the final details on it. We’re still working on some of the details of the next steps … in terms of business planning and pieces like that,” said Bourassa. “We’ve got everything in place, we just haven’t pulled it into a cohesive document yet.”

It’s important to have these priorities in written form since goals and objectives are usually contained in the heads of police administrators who track progress mentally, he continued. With a written document, the police service can now establish performance measures and ensure growth is occurring. 

“It’s an important process and I’m happy that we have that in place,” he added.

The next police board meeting is Thursday, July 6, at 2 p.m. at the Cultural Centre. 

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