Westlock RCMP are organizing a town hall meeting on crime for Nov. 8 and are hoping to see residents concerned with the amount of property crime in the region come out to hear officials explain the situation from their perspective and to be heard by those in positions of authority that can make an actual difference.
The meeting will be held Friday, Nov. 8 from 2-5:30 p.m. at the Westlock Inn and will include representatives from the local RCMP detachment as well as Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken. There will also be representatives from the Eastern Alberta RCMP, the local Citizens on Patrol group and Victim Services.
Westlock RCMP Staff Sgt. Al Baird is helping organize the event and has also invited prosecutors from the Crown to attend, though their attendance has not yet been confirmed.
“Regardless of if the Crown is coming or not, we’re going to have it on Nov. 8,” said Baird. “I’m just hoping to have more people so if those in attendance want to ask questions, they can. I could give an answer to a general question for the Crown, but I can’t speak to their policies or why they’re doing what they do.”
People want to know why the Crown does certain things within the justice system and they want to ask an actual lawyer actual questions, said Baird, and hopefully this town hall meeting will along them to hear the frustrations directly from the people.
“It’s a town hall meeting on crime, I guess you could call it. It’s about asking questions and we want it to be productive. We understand the frustrations that people have, but asking questions is the best way to get information,” said Baird. “I know that people probably want to vent, which is OK, but asking the questions and getting a response is the best way to get things done.”
Baird said he recognizes that a mid-afternoon meeting on a Friday may not be ideal for some, the event had to be arranged according to the panelists’ schedules to make it work and he hopes publicizing the event several weeks in advance will allow people to arrange to be in attendance, if they so choose.
A similar event in Leduc last month only drew 50 people and a privately organized forum Oct. 3 at a local restaurant only managed to draw 12 community members.
