1) What is your official current position and title?

Senior Policy Advisor
Crime Prevention and Reduction, Policing and Community Services Branch,
Department of Public Safety, Province of New Brunswick

2) What is your educational background?

Bachelors of Business Administration, UNB and a Masters in Recreation and Sports Administration, UNB

3) Talk a little about your career path:  Where did your passion for the research/work that you do originate and how did it develop?

I have had a varied career path including five years in retail banking, eleven years as Executive Director for the John Howard Society of New Brunswick, three years as a corrections policy consultant in NB and overseas, three years as a member of the Parole Board of Canada, and about six years in my current position.

4) Tell us about one or two of your current projects?

Working with a network of stakeholder organizations we have recently developed and launched a new provincial Crime Prevention and Reduction Strategy, which is designed to prevent and reduce crime while also stretching scarce dollars further within the NB Criminal Justice System.

A key part of this work includes the provincial Roundtable on Crime and Public Safety, which is a strategic planning structure involving most of the key organizations involved in crime prevention in NB.  These include several provincial and federal government departments, first nations organizations, researchers, community groups, police agencies, municipality associations, private sector organizations, lawyers, and corrections professionals.

5) How do you see your research/work in terms of possibly contributing to evidence-based public policy?

The NB Crime Prevention and Reduction Strategy is focused on supporting evidence-based decision-making within the criminal justice system.  The body of research related effective crime prevention and rehabilitation is very well developed in Canada.  In a time of scarce resources it is vital that what we invest in our criminal justice system (police, courts, corrections) be targeted effectively so as to better support public safety and crime reduction/prevention.  Costs within the criminal justice system in New Brunswick have been rising rapidly for many years and are on an unsustainable path.  The goal is for the criminal justice system to become more preventative and move a bit away from being almost entirely reactive in its responses to crime and the factors that drive crime in New Brunswick. .

6) Discuss any past achievements that were significant to your professional path?  Have any contributed to the promotion of evidence-based public policy?

When I started working with the John Howard Society in 1991 my background in criminology was limited.  My strengths were related to administration, financial management, engagement, communications, and strategic planning/research.  The specialized knowledge around crime and the criminal justice system came along over time.

From a business perspective, it seemed that much of what we have done over the years in the criminal justice system has been ineffective, especially if the intent was to reduce crime and contain costs.  New Brunswick was in the midst of a financial crisis at that time (much like today) and as a result there was a ready willingness by decision makers to look at innovation and changing how things were done.

The use of evidence in deciding upon at what changes should be pursued was very important then and that tendency to look for a research/evidence aspect continues today in much of our current decision-making.  This dynamic has always been more apparent in the private sector.  This is how private business decisions are made.

In the public sector, we are increasingly identifying what outcomes we plan to attain with whatever actions we pursue, be it in healthcare, education, social services, the criminal justice system, and any other part of the public service.  Doing this successfully demonstrates value to taxpayers and the ability of the public service to identify and respond to needs in the citizenry.

7) Describe in a couple of sentences your involvement with RRPS-NB and how your relationship with the Network has contributed to your research/work and/or to social/economic policy?

The Crime Prevention Unit with the Department of Public Safety had early involvement with NB-SPRN.  We have used their services to help us with an important audit of adult and youth diversion in NB, developing new curriculum for police training on crime prevention and community based policing, evaluation services for some of our projects, organizing events for us, and presentation expertise for some of our workshops and our provincial crime prevention conferences.  We also found our most recent staff person through one of our NB-SPRN projects.

Recently, New Brunswick announced a new provincial Crime Prevention and Reduction Strategy (http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/ps-sp/pdf/Publications/MovingFromTheoryToOutcomes.pdf).

NB-SPRN and many of its members have been very active in helping to develop the Strategy through participation on the provincial Roundtable on Crime and Public Safety and several of its working groups.

8) Any last thoughts?

The word “network” in the NB Social Policy Research Network is key.  This word is often thought of as a noun, a thing that can be identified and quantified.  My preference is that it be thought of as a verb, that we are in the process of networking and connecting people together better as we build a better province.  The kind of potential represented by NB-SPRN has to be exercised and put into action in order for us to see its true value.  The tide today is often in the opposite direction, one of organizational isolation and limited ability to affect needed change.  We are facing many complex issues and challenges in New Brunswick.  Complex issues require integrated approaches involving many participants that are also well informed by evidence.  NB-SPRN is an important part of bridging the gaps we need to address if we are going to move forward effectively.