ATHABASCA – The Athabasca RCMP Detachment is fully staffed, and the wheels are moving on making Athabasca the home base for a Regional Police and Crisis Team (RPACT).
That was some of the news S/Sgt. Mark Hall brought to a virtual town hall meeting Oct. 26 as well as a quick explainer on Victim Services and a presentation from Alberta Rural Crime Watch president Cor De Wit, as the detachment continues its community outreach and consultation to determine the priorities of the community’s RCMP members serve, as well as a quick explainer on Victim Services and a presentation
Hall said he hopes to see some updates soon on the RPACT position, noting the position has been posted.
“They will be working with an Alberta Health nurse and trying to address some of the mental health files and concerns in the communities. Seeing as it’s a regional position, it's going to cover quite a huge area. It's not just for Athabasca but I definitely see it as a benefit for the Athabasca area,” Hall told the handful of residents who attended online. “It'll be a great resource because I think a lot of what we deal with specifically at this detachment result is a result of mental health. So, we're looking at some growth and it's a positive change for us.”
In addition to that, Hall said the detachment is also trying to secure funding for a school resource officer, but nothing is confirmed yet.
“It's a great program, and if we can actually get it started here, I'm looking forward to being able to see some results on that.”
Hall also touted the creation of a general investigative position that was filled with an existing officer
“That member spends her time focusing on complex investigations and does some education with the community on crime prevention. The position has been extremely successful,” he said.
“The detachment itself is looking at doing a lot of work in the drugs and substance abuse area, property crime area and habitual offenders area. Where we come up with these target areas is through things like this town hall, through community consultations, and through talking to our partners during these consultations through the year, these three areas were brought to our attention as areas of concern that people want us to spend more of our time focusing on.”
Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch Association (APRCWA)
ARCW president Cor De Wit brought the handful of attendees up to speed on the organization and how its members partner with RCMP to become the eyes and ears of rural Alberta.
“We are kind of the Alberta representative of all the small Crimewatch chapters that are around the province,” he said. “We are the eyes and ears of rural Alberta, in partnership with local RCMP detachments, promoting rural Crimewatch awareness, educating the public on crime prevention and encouraging individuals to report suspicious activity to the RCMP.”
Formed in 1978, the group is now involved with not only the RCMP but the Farmers Advocate Office, Alberta Cattle Producers, Fish and Wildlife and Report a Poacher. There are close to 17,000 members in chapters all over Alberta, De Wit said, and encouraged anyone interested in forming their own local chapter to check out the website at ruralcrimewatch.ab.ca.
