Overview
- The Community Safety and Targeted Enforcement Program (C-STEP) allocates $5 million to equip police with advanced technology, tools and investigative resources to curb property crime and street disorder.
- Police agencies provincewide must submit operational plans to the RCMP to compete for C-STEP funding under the newly opened application process.
- C-STEP will complement the existing Specialized Investigation and Targeted Enforcement program (SITE), which achieved a 27 percent drop in violent crime in Hastings Crossing and a 45 percent reduction in weapon-related assaults in Gastown.
- Local leaders including Jane Talbot of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and BC Association of Chiefs of Police president Wendy Mehat have welcomed the initiative as a crucial step against non-violent and repeat offending.
- The program forms part of a broader $235 million public safety investment in B.C.’s 2025 budget aimed at strengthening justice and enforcement initiatives across the province.