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Police board wants external consultant to help create new strategic plan

The police board's goal is to work with the consultant in the fall and complete the project by Dec. 1. 
Moose Jaw police wall sign

The Moose Jaw Police Service plans to hire an outside consultant to assist in the development of a new five-year strategic plan for the organization and the Board of Police Commissioners.

The board voted to engage a consultant to lead the strategic business plan renewal during its June 9 meeting, while it informed the public and media about the project during the July 11 meeting. 

The project budget is $15,000.

The police service posted the request for proposals (RFP) to its website and on SaskTenders and has already received some inquiries, Deputy Chief Rick Johns said during the meeting. The deadline for applications is Aug. 4, and once that occurs, police leadership and board members will choose a suitable candidate.

The goal is to work with the consultant in the fall and complete the project by Dec. 1. 

“One of the things we need to be a little cautious about whenever we’re doing something that involves an RFP is not speaking too publicly, which could influence RFP pieces, so we were a little bit careful with that,” Police Chief Rick Bourassa told media afterward.

The police commissioners wanted an external consultant because they didn’t want someone who is intimately involved with either the board or police service, while they desired someone with experience in leading discussions about — and creating — strategic plans, he continued. 

“I’ve written several strategic plans over the years. It would be a bad idea to have me oversee the strategic plan because, of course, I come in as an insider,” Bourassa added. 

“So you need someone from outside who can be objective and direct things properly. And what that does is lends a bit more legitimacy to it when it’s over.”

The Saskatchewan Police Commission mandates that police services have “a strategic business plan and the means of measuring performance of the police service,” while its policy manual states that “the strategic business must clearly articulate the organizational strategy of the police service,” according to the RFP on the SaskTenders website. 

The new plan is expected to guide the MJPS over the next half-decade and be reflective of current and emerging trends affecting community safety in Moose Jaw.

According to the RFP, the consultant is expected to review expectations and existing literature and facilitate stakeholder engagement sessions with internal and external groups.

The development of the strategic plan is expected to include:

  • A written report summarizing the consultations
  • All relevant environmental scans including diversity, inclusion and equity information
  • Collated themes of all consultations and scans
  • Possible performance metrics
  • Electronic draft version of the proposed plan
  • Assistance with crafting the chief’s message

One criteria the police board expects the proponent to include focuses on community benefit and sustainability because the board is developing a sustainable procurement policy around the pillars of social, environmental and economic value, the RFP says. 

Social values include diversity, inclusion and accessibility. Environmental values include protecting the environment and reducing the carbon footprint. Economic values include ways to assist and improve citizens’ lives through improving the economy. 

The board wants proponents to provide a description of how their organization can provide those values now and into the future as the police commissioners develop their sustainable procurement policy, the tender added. The board will score certain RFPs higher if the proponent includes a sustainability plan that support’s the police commission’s goals. 

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