RCMP host rural crime open house

The Barrhead RCMP know there is a crime problem and they are doing their best to address it.

That is what Barrhead RCMP Detachment commander Sgt. Bob Dodds told a standing-room only audience at the Seniors’ Drop-In Centre Sept. 25.

Dodds called the meeting to answer questions and quell residents’ concerns over what is perceived as a growing crime problem.

“It is a problem. I’m not going to tell you it isn’t,” he said, noting both person and property crimes have increased in the last year. “But we are doing everything we can to lower that number.”

Unfortunately, he said it isn’t easy given the detachment’s resources and legal constraints.

He said person crimes (those committed directly against an individual, such as assaults and threats) have gone up 22 per cent from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, over the same time last year.

“Our numbers are low [number of person crimes reported], so relatively few crimes can make a big impact,” Dodds said.

Although 22 per cent is a big increase, he said the number of person crimes reported is still below the five-year average for the detachment.

“What I always say is we might not see a lot [person crime] but what we do see impacts us a great deal, but when you compare it to other communities it is a very safe community,” Dodds said. “One way a police officer judges how safe a community is by the number of retired members it has. Barrhead has five and in a few years, it will be six. I tell you, if this wasn’t a safe community, I wouldn’t be planning to stay here with my family.”

Property crime also took a marked increase over last year going up by 10 per cent, making the statistic the second-highest its been in five years.

“And I’m surprised it’s not more. We had a particularly rough summer,” Dodds said.

And Barrhead isn’t alone. Dodds added the increases are consistent with what other detachments are seeing across Canada. The detachment’s crime severity index (CSI) also increased, currently sitting at 100. The provincial average is 112.1.

Dodds noted Barrhead CSI compares favourably to neighbouring detachments such as Whitecourt, Mayerthorpe, Swan Hills and Stony Plain.

“I’m not saying I’m happy about where we are at, but when we compare ourselves to other communities, we are better than most,” he said.

As for what is driving crime, it is drug addiction, specifically meth.

“It has changed everything. It has ruined lives and is what is causing our property crimes and a large portion of our person crimes,” he said. “If you have an addiction to meth you have to pay for it somehow, whether it is stealing a car, its battery or by coming into your house and stealing your TV or bicycle,” Dodds said.

Unfortunately, he said drug addiction is a societal problem and not something they are equipped to deal with.

“But we have to deal with the results,” Dodds said.

Police resources

To combat the crime issue, the Barrhead Detachment is staffed with three civilian employees, seven general-duty constables as well as a corporal and a sergeant. With this relatively small contingent, the detachment has to police 12,000 residents over a large area that encompasses Barrhead municipalities about half of Woodlands County and a small corner of Lac Ste. Anne County.

The detachment itself is open, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For after-hours service, there is a telephone on the outside of the building. There is also a 24 hours, seven days a week non-emergency line 780-674-2696.

Depending on whether someone is at the detachment, it will either ring through or go to the dispatch centre in Edmonton.

Of course, in emergencies, there is 911.

And contrary to popular belief there isn’t always a member on duty.

“With this number of staff, it is not feasible to operate 24/7 nor is it productive,” Dodds said.

RCMP regional manager Staff Sgt. Luis Gandolfi said it isn’t unusual for a detachment with less than 20 members.

Dodds added to overcome the staffing shortfall, he tries to stack his resources for members are on duty when they are needed most.

Staffing levels, for the most part, are determined by population and the number of crimes reported and their severity.

However, Gandolfi said the regional office does have input on deployment strategies.

Dodds added the detachment also can call upon other resources from other detachments and specialty units — most often that support comes from Westlock, mainly due to its proximity.

Regional detachments can also ask for assistance from one of the province’s Crime Reduction Units (CRU).

In March 2018, the province gave the RCMP $10 million for 39 officers, as well as 40 civilian members and 10 Crown prosecutors. These resources would be used to form CRUs -mobile units whose primary function is to help reduce crime in rural areas.

“There are nine-members per unit, support staff and a crime analyst,” Dodds said, noting they travel through the province on a rotational basis and have been in Barrhead about eight times.

He added the RCMP, basically acts as the province’s provincial police force and therefore they can call upon additional resources such as aircraft, dog units, as well as the emergency response team.

An audience member suggested the community could fund for an extra-enhanced policing position, a dog unit, which would be funded by the municipalities.

Gandolfi said dogs, while they are extremely good at what they do, are not efficient for general policing, suggesting if the community were to fund an extra position, an investigator would   be the “best bang for the buck.”

Legal constraints

Dodds said he is often asked by residents why they don’t just go arrest someone.

“Everyone knows that this person has stolen property and drugs in their house, why don’t you just go get it or them?” they ask.

The reality isn’t that simple.

“Everybody in this community has the same rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. No one wants me to be able to come to their house and start rifling through their sock drawer. The charter and the courts forbids us, nor should we be allowed to,” Dodds said, noting this restriction means before an officer can enter onto your property, with very few exceptions, need a warrant.

He added warrants are not easy to obtain and the rules of what the police can and cannot do are constantly evolving due to court rulings.

Gandolfi agreed.

“At one time we were able to do flyovers and if we happened to glance down and see a bunch of stolen quads, for example, we could deal with that, but now it is considered searching,” he said. “The same with an open-air search where a dog handler is walking at a transit station and if the dog alerted us about drugs on a person we were able to make that detention and conduct an investigation, but no longer.”