Barrhead RCMP not experiencing staffing shortages

Kevin Berger – Leader Staff

The Barrhead RCMP Detachment is doing well in terms of staffing but has yet to find a new School Resource Officer (SRO) and is unlikely to find one by the start of the school year.

While delivering the quarterly report on local crime statistics to County of Barrhead councillors on July 2, Staff Sgt. Bob Dodds also talked about the detachment’s current staffing levels.

Dodds said he currently has seven healthy constables right now who have all completed their field training programs, so they are “in good shape” in terms of staffing.

On the other hand, Dodds said he has been unable to find a new SRO due to staffing shortages in other detachments. (In June 2018, the CBC reported that the number of police officers per 100,000 Canadians is at its lowest level in 13 years.)

“It’s unfortunate, because it’s such a valuable position, but there are detachments running hard vacancies on the front line, so those become the priority, obviously,” he said.

“It’s hard to compete with that. There are places that are running really short.”

An SRO has operated within Barrhead and area schools since 2008. It was the SRO’s job to administer programs like DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and to serve as a role model for youth, as well as to handle certain calls related to bullying or drug use at schools.

Pembina Hills Public Schools covered half of the cost of the position, while the Town and County of Barrhead contributed about 22.5 per cent each. Woodlands County picked up the remaining five per cent.

The last RCMP member to serve as the local SRO was Const. Robert Hynes, who served in the role for four years before departing at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.

BARCC alert

Dodds also delved into a recent case that demonstrates the usefulness of the  BARCC (Barrhead & Area Regional Crime Coalition) system, which the RCMP can use to send out alerts to the public via e-mails, texts and direct phone calls.

At 2 a.m. on June 27, a Barrhead man announced to his mother that he intended to commit suicide. He then left their residence with a rifle.

The man’s mother contacted the RCMP after hearing two gunshots. That complicated the situation, as two shots meant that the RCMP were potentially dealing with an “active shooter,” Dodds indicated.

At that point, Dodds said he debated putting out an alert through BARCC to warn people of the situation. He held off, however, and with the assistance of a police dog unit from Stony Plain, they apprehended the subject walking down 53rd Avenue at about 4 a.m.

“We found him just wandering down the street,” said Dodds.

Noting that residents would have started to wake up by 6 a.m. and children would be going to school by 8 a.m., Dodds appreciated having the option to send out an alert through BARCC.

“That’s what BARCC can do for us, at least partially. We can’t reach everybody (through BARCC), but we can sure reach a lot of people,” he said. “To have that option is comforting.”

After the situation was resolved, Facebook started to “light up” with reports about the shooter, some of which were inaccurate, Dodds indicated.

“People were reporting shots fired to Facebook. Not to the police, but to Facebook,” he said.