A permanent community office for RCMP officers and victim services workers will open Aug. 29 in Morley, with the goal of continuing to foster a positive relationship between the Cochrane RCMP detachment and the Stoney Nakoda First Nation (SNFN).
The facility will be located at the old Chiniki storefront in Morley. A grand opening will take place Aug. 29 at 11 a.m., and will include a blessing ceremony and a barbecue.
“It’s a big event for the detachment because it’s a step forward with our positive relations with the Stoney Nakoda First Nation community,” Cochrane RCMP Cst. Jennifer Brewer said. “We work very closely with them through our Community Tripartite Agreement (CTA). As well, we do have quite a few officers coming out.”
The CTA is an agreement between RCMP, SNFN and the Province of Alberta to fund policing positions specifically for the SNFN community. According to Brewer, the agreement includes community-policing and crime-reduction components.
“The community policing does presentations, school visits and public relations to act as a bridge between the community and the detachment,” she said. “[I] also go…to Elders’ houses and visit them, to make sure they’re doing OK.”
While Brewer handles the community-policing side, Cst. Dave Cardoso leads the crime-reduction program. Brewer said his role is to bring together the various partners to work with an offender to ensure they abide by release conditions.
“He’ll do curfew checks or sobriety checks, and he’ll go to the public areas to ensure people who aren’t supposed to be together, aren’t,” Brewer said.
While the centre will initially not have set office hours, she said, the gate will be open to community members when CTA officers are on-site.
Along with RCMP operations, the new centre will also house the office of Daphne Hollins, the Indigenous Outreach Program co-ordinator for Cochrane and Area Victim Services.
She said there are many reasons the new facility will be positive for the community.
“For our neighbours in Morley, getting to Cochrane can be quite difficult – transportation is always an issue, as well as having the money available to come see us here,” she said.
“There are also always barriers, when looking at inter-generational trauma, to come into an RCMP office to meet with victim services. Part of our work out there will be to be out in the community.”
Hollins added offering victim services locally will increase community members’ awareness of available resources.
“Quite often, our victims aren’t aware that there are services, programs and even provincial benefits potentially available to them as victims of crime in Alberta,” she said. “Being able to get that message onto the Stoney Nakoda First Nation and meeting with people face-to-face is really valuable.”
