BARRHEAD - The Barrhead RCMP Detachment will continue to focus on police visibility and offender management.
Detachment commander Sgt. Colin Hack suggested to County of Barrhead councillors during their May 6 meeting that police continue to have the areas at the centre of its annual performance plan (APP) with the municipality.
Later in the meeting, councillors approved the plan.
The APP is a document that outlines the detachment's policing priorities, created with input from the municipal governments that it serves as part of its public engagement component.
The Barrhead RCMP Detachment serves the Barrhead communities, a portion of Woodlands County (specifically the Fort Assiniboine area) and a small portion of Lac Ste. Anne County.
In subsequent weeks, Hack will make a similar pitch to the Town of Barrhead and Woodlands County.
Hack said he has instituted foot patrols in the Town of Barrhead core as part of the initiative and plans to continue them as long as the weather allows.
"Walking the beat, having coffee with residents and business owners," he said, adding officers will also conduct foot patrols in the hamlets of Fort Assiniboine and Neerlandia, but on a smaller scale.
He added the detachment will continue to host town halls and smaller "coffee with a cop" gatherings, the next being on the morning of May 26 at McDonald's.
Coun. Bill Lane asked what the change in leadership at the federal level would be with the election of the Liberals to a strong Liberal minority led by Mark Carney, and what it would mean in the effort to combat rural crime.
Specifically, would it mean stopping or at least slowing down the "catch-and-release" system, which Hack and the previous Barrhead detachment commander, Sgt. Bob Dodds criticized.
Hack said the RCMP's "upper brass" have been working with provincial and federal prosecutors to stem the tide, adding he believes there has been some progress.
"But change is slow, but it is something long overdue, and it is something we, in a small community, definitely see the impact of. Most of the criminals we see aren't new; they are the same people we continue to see," he said, giving the example of the suspect RCMP arrested in Bonnyville, accused of damaging several police vehicles in the detachment's parking lot with a backhoe. "He was not unknown to the police."
"[He] is costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands, causing disruptions in staffing for who knows how long and what will he get? Mischief for damaging property?"
Reeve Doug Drozd asked if the RCMP had a pool of replacement vehicles to draw upon.
"If they don't, what can they do? Call an Uber?" he asked.
Unfortunately, Hack said that the RCMP does not have a pool of unused vehicles that can be put into service, noting the vehicles will be added to a "new build" and will take months until they are ready to be put into service.
"Until then, [the Bonnyville Detachment] will steal vehicles from neighbouring detachments, leaving an IOU," he said.
Detachment statistics
Hack said that since January 1, the detachment has opened about 1,000 files.
Some notable areas of concern include fraud.
"It is still a real thing. Most of the fraud or scams come from overseas, and it is tough to pinpoint someone responsible for them," he said, adding that recently the RCMP opened an investigation where a Barrhead area resident lost $18,000 to a bitcoin scam.
Hack added animal collisions are on the rise, while the number of assaults and sexual assaults has decreased, and police have attended 11 sudden deaths in 2025.
Hack also thanked the County of Barrhead, specifically community police officer Shae Guy, for assisting his members on a recent check stop. This resulted in six alcohol screening device checks and three 24-hour driver's licence suspensions, "getting impaired drivers off the road."
New detachment update
Hack said the construction of the new detachment has been delayed by five or six months for an undisclosed reason, noting that the two-year, $9.5 million build had already been scheduled to start.
"We've been promised that we would be the first building in "K Division," he said, adding he hopes to have an update later in the week.
"It's a bit frustrating not being able to take advantage of this good building weather," he said. "Winter will be here soon enough; we need those jail cells."
In the meantime, due to safety concerns, detachment members must continue transporting prisoners to Westlock.
"It is a bit of pain, as it is time-consuming," he said, adding that it takes roughly 20 minutes to book a prisoner in, in addition to actual driving time. "The nice thing is that they don't get a ride back to Barrhead when they get released, but somehow they always find a way back."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
