Editor’s Note:
Editor’s Note:
For the month of August, The Rocky View Weekly (RVW) will be taking an investigative look at four major issues facing Rocky View County, leading up to October’s municipal election.
This series is aimed at opening up the lines of communications to help identify the issues facing county residents.
RVW has identified the top four issues based on our extensive coverage of the county. The week, RVW is focusing on the RCMP’s relationship with the County, Province and residents, and looking deeper into the issue of coverage areas, cost and available staffing resources, and how this affects communities that depend on this vital service.
There is no doubt Rocky View County is a growing municipality. In 2011, the population reached 36,460, nearly a 10 per cent increase from 2006, according to a Statistics Canada census.
With growth comes the need for greater resources including everything from infrastructure to policing.
The county has four RCMP detachments in Airdrie, Beiseker, Cochrane and Chestermere with close to 60 officers. Some communities in the county are covered by neighbouring detachments such as Langdon, which is policed by Strathmore RCMP.
Some Rocky View County residents in smaller communities are concerned about safety in their communities and have been speaking up to get more police coverage for their towns. In some cases, they have been heard.
Balzac
In October 2012, the Balzac Business Association (BBA) requested more police presence in the area.
The organization, made up of 28 business owners located in and around Balzac, penned a letter to the Province and Rocky View County requesting more officers in the region.
“There has been substantial growth in the Balzac area,” said Jeff Redmond. “The population hasn’t changed much, but (police) incident reports are going up. The biggest concern is the amount of territory that the RCMP has to cover.”
According to Inspector Tony Hamori of the Airdrie RCMP detachment, the Airdrie Rural detachment has eight members and the coverage area includes Crossfield and Balzac.
The Beiseker rural detachment consists of five members and is responsible for policing the communities of Beiseker, Irricana, Keoma, Kathryn, Acme, Linden, parts of Mountain View County and Wheatland County. According to Redmond, because the area is mostly commercial, there are few people around after business hours, leaving it open to criminal activities, such as trespassing, theft and property damage.
Since the BBA came forward, two additional officer positions have been approved by the Province, which are expected to be filled within the next six months.
Langdon
In June, residents of Langdon came together for a safety meeting to voice their concerns about policing.
The Langdon COP was created in 2012 to help patrol the community at night.
“Our goal is to be the eyes and ears in the community. We work to gather information but make sure to report actual offenses to the police,” said Aimee Szarka, president of the Langdon COP.
The group was created, in part, because residents were concerned about an issue referred to as “car shopping.” Vehicles that have been left unlocked are often targeted by adolescents, generally under the age of 25, who search and steal contents from the car.
Const. Keith Anderson of the Strathmore RCMP said if residents want more police coverage, it will cost them.
People have to “recognize that if you want more police presence and direct enforcement, we have to hire more police officers, which means higher taxes. But we respond to every call we get,” he added.
Crossfield
Crossfield council recently asked administration to draft a letter to K-Division asking for more of a police presence in the town due to concerns of speeding.
CAO Cheryl Skelly said the amount of time RCMP spends in the town is mandated by RCMP protocol.
“When it comes down to Crossfield they need to decide what they need, it’s going to cost. Do they want to pay?” asked K-Division Sgt. Patricia Neely.
Rural crime
“There has definitely been an increase (in activity),” Airdrie Rural RCMP Sergeant Dennis Esayenko said of crime in the county.
Esayenko said the crime in rural centres is similar to that in larger areas. However, the number of highways in the county means rural officers see major traffic collisions, with significant injuries or death.
“In a city like Airdrie there’s different enforcement levels that prevent these (major collisions),” he said.
Though Esayenko said the recent rapid population growth has been positive overall, it has created difficulties for the Airdrie Rural RCMP because the detachment did not receive any additional resources from the Province until recently.
“We’re really pleased about that,” he said, adding it is the first time in his eight-and-a-half years with the detachment he has seen a new position added.
The RCMP is Alberta’s Provincial Police Service, which is under contract with the Government of Alberta.
Lorraine Wesley-Riley, manager of Enforcement Service with Rocky View County, said, “Policing is truly a provincial mandate in rural Alberta.”
Provincial mandates
RCMP presence and detachments are under the jurisdiction of the Province, and the decision to add additional resources comes down to a business case, according to the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General.
“Basically, it’s a conversation with the Province and the commanding officer (of K Division),” Jason Maloney, spokesperson for the department said.
“There are a number of determining factors such as, the distance between detachments, the number and types of calls being made and the population of the area are part of the discussion.”
Maloney added that community members and their concerns are part of the discussion.
The federal government announced funding for an additional 10 positions throughout Alberta in March, two officer positions in Airdrie Rural detachment fall under that funding.
Municipal role
In Alberta, the RCMP detachments are run under K-Division out of Edmonton. The RCMP also provides police service under separate contracts with 43 municipalities with populations over 5,000 throughout Alberta.
Neely said RCMP resources are determined by population but added communities that feel more officers are needed can opt to pay for enhanced positions, which are in place for three-years once filled.
Rocky View County currently has two enhanced positions, one in Airdrie Rural and one in Cochrane.
Wesley-Riley said the position in Rural Airdrie was added due to population growth and the Cochrane one was due to, “Some pretty serious things happening in the Elbow Valley.”
She said the enhanced positions are supplementary to provincially funded positions, and costs the County $138,000 per position per year. However, the cost is assessed yearly and may change from one year to the next.
However, Esayenko said officers aren’t sent to communities for a certain amount of time each week; rather, coverage is based on the number of officers working on any given shift.
“We only have “X” number of resources, people and vehicles,” he said.
He added, more officers are sent to high-activity areas or events where there is the potential for criminal activity or disturbances such as rodeos.
“Obviously, CrossIron Mills mall in Balzac is a hub of activity in the county and generally we’re there more because of the volume of calls in that area.”
Be heard
He said generally communities seeking an increased presence of RCMP should send the request to their local detachment commander, who will attempt to reallocate resources without affecting other communities.
The number of officers assigned to an attachment is determined at the provincial level but that officers on the front line can communicate with the commander of K-Division if they see a need for more resources.
From there, K-Division acts as the voice for requesting specific resources on the official and political level.
For residents that are concerned, Esayenko suggests contacting their local MLA.
Check out next week’s Rocky View Weekly for an in-depth look at Rocky View County’s debt.
With files from Sara Wilson
