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Now, a key part of the community's safety strategy, it's known as the Hub model — a multi-agency intervention that mobilizes social services for those in need before harm is done.

The model is used by about 140 locations in North America including Charlottetown, Ottawa, Toronto and Surrey.

Twice a week, representatives from community agencies, police, child welfare, schools and other groups discuss cases around a "Hub table" for 90 minutes.

Information is shared, but some details are withheld, where necessary, to protect privacy.

The goal is to offer services within 24 to 48 hours to reduce risk factors such as substance abuse, mental health issues or family violence. It often involves knocking on someone's door or meeting with family members.

In Saskatchewan, McFee said, 81 per cent of police calls for service don't lead to criminal charges. He suspects it's similar in Edmonton.

"That right there tells you that we're asking the police to be the social worker, the mental health worker and everything else," he said.

The Hub takes people out of the justice system and puts them on the path to recovery while reducing demand for services. "It's way more advantageous to the individual who needs the service and obviously it's a heck of a lot more cost effective," McFee said.

In Saskatchewan, the information is collected in a data base created with the Ministry of Justice and the University of Saskatchewan to shape policy and improve service delivery. Government staff support Hub tables by troubleshooting and fielding questions.

"At the end of the day you can't fix what you don't know," said McFee. "So we use that data proactively to figure out how we can actually start to focus on the right thing."

He emphasized the approach is not about being soft on crime, but rather being smart about community safety. "We need to put the bad people in jail and not the poor souls," McFee told Edmonton media in November.

"If your only response is the justice system, what you tend to do is you don't do a very good job of sorting intake and you overload your justice system."

There were legislative changes, too. The VRU lobbied successfully for increases in maximum sentences for carrying knives. Where previously those caught with a blade were allowed back on their street while their case slowly progressed through the justice system, now once caught they were fingerprinted, DNA-swabbed and held in custody until court.

Funded primarily by the Scottish government, CIRV combined the carrot and the stick. Gang members were given a choice: renounce violence and get help into education, training and employment, or face zero tolerance on the street.

Stop and search has been used excessively, with young men in deprived communities disproportionately targeted.

While the official Hub training costs each community from $15,000 to $45,000, Maskwacis RCMP has developed a local version it offers for free.