Saskatchewan RCMP detachments are working to engage with communities with town hall meetings planned throughout the province.
Local detachments held their town halls throughout the last month with Watrous RCMP’s on Feb. 22, Greenwater-Rose Valley RCMP town hall on March 6, Wadena and Wynyard on March 8, Humboldt-Langian on March 14 in Humboldt and then on March 21 in Lanigan, and Wakaw detachment hosting their town hall on March 22.
A common theme that all detachments were prepared for was concerns regarding rural crime.
Staff Sgt. Adare Guest and Staff Sgt. Greg Abbott, who represents the central district of the RCMP, were on hand to present statistics from both the Humboldt detachment and the province as a whole during the Humboldt-Lanigan RCMP town hall.
Rural crime was a concern for many people, with Abbott saying they would not be able to address every possible scenario that citizens brought forth.
Abbott has been to eight different town halls this past month with the Saskatchewan RCMP planning to host events in every Saskatchewan detachment within the next year.
Rural property crime has come up at every town hall he has attended, says Abbott, including Sgt. Burton Jones with the Wadena RCMP and Sgt. Larry Kurtenbach at their own town halls.
The message Abbott wants people to take from the meetings is not to confront perpetrators.
“It’s frustrating. People are fed up, I realize that. But if somebody’s across your yard breaking into your shop, don’t go out there and confront them. Make sure your family is safe, make sure you’re safe, call the troops and get them coming.”
Jones’ message to everybody during his town hall was for people to please do not put themselves in that situation and phone the police.
Given certain situations, Abbott is not saying that residents cannot defend themselves and their family. But if they can avoid a confrontation, please do it, he says.
Other issues of concern included staff and visibility concerns as well as response to calls.
Sgt. Jeff Friedenstab with the Watrous RCMP says around 40 people came to their town hall with a wide variety of conversations coming to head with no one issue dominating the discussion.
Marijuana legislation will have little impact on the area, says Friedenstab with Watrous not being large enough to obtain a retail license.
With some areas battle the issue of staffing, Friedenstab says the Watrous detachment is fully staffed.
“Crime and population wise, we have enough officers for the ratio but of course the biggest problem is geographically. With five people, at any one time, we have one person on shift.”
Jones says they are dealing with staffing issues with three positions vacant in Wadena for quite some time. Two constables and a corporal position are open in the nine person detachment.
Jones says they have been working with neighbouring RCMP detachments, including Greenwater-Rose Valley and Wynyard to make sure there are enough members to cover the area.
Visibility was a main concern at the Wynyard town hall, says Wynyard RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Terry Posnikoff. With a three member detachment, Posnikoff says they are only at 75 per cent capacity for officers.
Around 22 people showed up to discuss issues with Posnikoff pleasantly surprised by the turn out.
Illegal garbage dumping is a problem throughout the RMs in Posnikoff’s detachment area, he says,.
“The Litter Control Act and the illegal dumping of garbage is one of those things that doesn’t make big news but it’s on every farmers mind as to what he has to do now with his garbage because he’s not allowed to burn this or that anymore.”
According to crime statistics at the detachment, rural property crimes are far below the provincial numbers, says Posnikoff.
“You hear the news on the west side of the province of the rural theft and crime, it’s not to say we don’t have that thing here. We do but it’s no where near the levels recorded for a short stint across the western side of the province.”
Guest followed up the Humboldt town hall with another in Lanigan with Lanigan EMS Operations Manager James Burton and Barry Hooper with the Lanigan Fire Department also on hand to report about their activity.
Burton says this past year tied for their previous best in number of calls with 243 calls with increases in local communities and transfers while seeing a decrease in calls for vehicle and farm accidents from rural municipalities.
Hooper says the Lanigan Fire Department had a good winter with no fire calls however they have responded to 70 vehicle accidents.
Having the proper information when reporting an incident was something that both Hooper and Burton stressed during their talk, with Hooper saying they are receiving plenty of false calls.
Legal land location is best but landmarks will also work.
One main concern brought forth by the public in Lanigan was speeding and dangerous driving that is going on around the town.
Even with locals reporting to the detachment, one resident said that nothing has been done about it but Guest says this will be addressed
Around 40 members of the community attended and spoke about concerns they have in the community during the Greenwater-Rose Valley RCMP town hall meeting on March 6 in Kelvington, says Sgt. Thane Royce with the detachment.
They believe at the detachment that there is under-reporting in the rural crime, including domestic violence, minor thefts, and drug use and trafficking.
There are things the RCMP can do to help residents but that is up to the citizens and what they want done to partner with the RCMP, says Royce.
“Are we the ones that set up the rural crime watches, the citizens on patrol. And we said yes, we can help you with all that.”
Residents had questions regarding responding to crime on their property which was difficult to answer considering every situation is going to be different, says Royce.
“There’s no hard or fast answer there, it’s situation dependent but number one, they need to call us, they need to make sure police are on route, and property is not worth personal harm, at the end of the day. People need to make that decision at the time.”
It was a good turn out in Wakaw, says Kurtenbach, reporting that around 120 people came to the meeting to discuss policing and safety.
It was a positive meeting says Kurtenbach as they discussed rural crime watch and citizens on patrol opportunities that could be brought to residents through the detachment.
“The model of policing has to change as our society changes and I’m approaching them and offering to engage with...to really make an active partnership between us in terms of looking after our detachment area.”
Kurtenbach says there was not any one over arching issue that dominated the meeting with two people commenting on how their problems were handled.
Kurtenbach says the buck stops at his desk and people should feel free to call him with any issues.
