Airdrie RCMP’s new detachment commander said the detachment is adequately staffed to police the city.
In her first presentation to Airdrie City council Oct. 19, Insp. Lauren Weare, who joined the Airdrie detachment in August after leading Cochrane RCMP for three years, said she doesn’t see the need for additional policing resources at this time.
“The detachment here is incredibly well-staffed, on both sides of the house,” she said. “For the first time in 33 years, I am very comfortable in saying I don’t need any additional resources. I’m not going to promise you’ll hear that from me ever again, but it’s my opinion, based on the workload analysis I’ve had conducted and the regular member file loads, there are currently sufficient regular member resources to effectively police the city.
"It's my respectful opinion that if we put the right people in the right roles, we'll do just fine over the next year or two without any increases."
According to Weare, the detachment currently has 67 regular members and 24.5 municipal employees, including a crime analyst.
"Having a crime analyst is critical in knowing exactly where we need to focus our proactive policing strategy," she said.
"The key is going to be careful management of these resources and ensure they're provided the right tools to do their jobs."
During the RCMP’s biannual presentation to council, Weare, a 33-year veteran of the RCMP, spoke about her first impressions of the local detachment. She outlined the positive impact of Airdrie RCMP's Mental Health and Addictions Liaison Team (MHALT).
According to Weare, MHALT responded to 371 calls for service between January and August this year – a 20 per cent increase from the same period in 2019. She added the team also increased its number of Form 10 apprehensions, which occur when a peace officer believes a person they've taken into custody is suffering from a mental health disorder or acting in a manner likely to cause self-harm or harm to others. Form 10 apprehensions allow officers to take the person directly to a doctor. According to Weare, the detachment increased its Form 10 apprehensions from 28 between January and August 2019 to 104 during the same time period in 2020.
“[MHALT] has been the envy of many communities and RCMP detachments in Alberta,” she said.
Weare also touted the impact of Airdrie’s Crime Reduction Unit (CRU), which focuses on investigating community members who commit a disproportionate amount of crime as well as cross-jurisdictional criminals. She highlighted CRU’s investigation and Sept. 8 arrest of Airdrie resident Ryan Dunlap for inter-provincial firearms offences and the Sept. 13 arrest of two men for charges related to forcible confinement, firearms and illicit drug possession.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
