Exploring the Pluralization of Community Safety: A Qualitative Analysis of the Perceived Operation and Implications of Situation Tables

Recent attention has been placed on the sustainability of policing, in that, increasing demands for public safety have been met with decreasing police budgets. The acknowledgement of this problem by Public Safety Canada has initiated the push towards new collaborative models of community safety. These collaborative models are often referred to as Situation Tables, which seek to mitigate acutely-elevated risks of crime and/or victimization in the community through multi-sectoral intervention. The present study explores how the lived experiences of those working on the frontlines of one Situation Table, the Community Partners Risk Intervention Table (CPRIT), fit within the broader community safety and well-being framework proposed by the Ontario Working Group (OWG). Though in-depth interviews with seven members of the CPRIT, and a documentary analysis of reports prepared by the OWG, I examine how Situation Tables are intended to operate, in rhetoric, and how one table is perceivably operating, on the ground. From this analysis, I uncover how service providers’ perceptions of CPRIT table practices closely reflect the framework proposed by the OWG. I further argue that Situation Tables present as state-centric mobilizations of the community that serve to responsibilize service providers and individuals at risk