ATHABASCA – Athabasca RCMP Staff Sgt. Mark Hall wants to know the concerns of the community at a virtual town hall meeting slated for this Thursday.
The event will be held online from 6 to 8 p.m., March 2, and to attend residents need to RSVP via e-mail here before 1 p.m. that same day.
Residents who have comments or concerns about policing issues in and around the communities of Athabasca, Calling Lake, Colinton, Perryvale, Rochester, Baptiste Lake and Island Lake are asked to submit their questions, along with the RSVP e-mail confirming their attendance, as the link to the meeting will be provided to those that RSVP. Hall said this meeting is just one of their outreach initiatives and dovetails with their annual performance plan which sets their policing priorities for the year as “town halls are a great way to connect with local residents and community leaders to talk about policing priorities and tailor our policing service to the needs of the communities.”
“I want to reach out to the community to get feedback on their concerns that are either new, or even ones we’ve worked on in the past … really, what I want to know is what their priorities are,” said Hall in a Feb. 23 follow-up interview.
In addition to this virtual event, Hall is promising in-person events in each of the communities later in 2023. As for the virtual format, Hall wasn’t sure initially how well it would work but says people have embraced the concept.
“I seem to be getting more attending these when they’re virtual, but there are definitely plans to go back to in-person meetings. I think this year we plan to do ones in each of the communities within our detachment area,” he said. “I’m going to have my corporals involved as well and we’ll be meeting specifically with targeted audiences within the communities to address them directly.”
Hall noted that the Athabasca RCMP officer assigned to the role of Regional Police and Crisis Team (RPACT) will also take part in the meeting to illustrate “what her role will be in the community.” Hall said the RPACT officer will cover “a pretty big area” that includes Athabasca, Desmarais, Slave Lake, Westlock, Barrhead, Redwater and Mayerthorpe and will specifically focus on proactive and targeted mental health and wellbeing in the area.
“She’ll be working with an Alberta Health Services nurse as well,” he added.
