The detachment experienced a steady year, responding to over 3000 complaints while experiencing ongoing staffing shortages.
This year, we saw Const. Sarah Harding and Const. Robert Hynes depart for other communities, and early in January, we will be losing Cpl. Riley Sutherland, who is transferring to Regina. In return we received constables Emma Lewis and Shad Martyn.
Our School Resource position remains vacant but efforts continue to identify a suitable candidate. With Const. Martyn’s arrival in December, the detachment itself is up to strength for the first time in many months.
Crime statistics continue to decline. Persons crimes, which include assaults, threats and any crime committed directly against the victim, are down 23 per cent from last year. Property crimes, including thefts, break and enter, and auto theft, remained fairly steady with a three per cent decrease.
Overall, the Barrhead Detachment experienced an 11 per cent decrease in reported crimes from last year.
Most importantly, Barrhead came in below average on the Crime Severity Index (CSI), which measures the seriousness of criminal activity reported in each community nationwide.
Numbers released are for 2017 and Barrhead’s CSI of 95.4 is well below the Alberta average of 110.1. We live in a safe community.
Response time for police in rural areas has been expressed as a concern and a study conducted of the response time in Alberta should provide some relief.
For higher priority complaints, the average response time is 20 minutes, 15 seconds. This is despite the distance members have to travel in rural areas and resource shortages. There is a perception that police take three hours to respond and this is not the case.
During the past year, members and staff at Barrhead Detachment have worked hard to serve their community. In return, many members of the community have expressed their appreciation and support. The Barrhead area is a wonderful place in which to live and work and our members and staff are honoured to serve this fine community.
We wish you a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Sgt. Bob Dodds
Barrhead RCMP Detachment Commander
