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RCMP outlines priorities for crime reduction initiatives

Rural crime reduction initiatives are among the three top priorities for the Barrhead RCMP this year, says detachment commander Sgt. Bob Dodds.
Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds said rural crime is a concern everywhere in the province and that is why the RCMP are putting together a crime reduction team.
Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds said rural crime is a concern everywhere in the province and that is why the RCMP are putting together a crime reduction team.

Rural crime reduction initiatives are among the three top priorities for the Barrhead RCMP this year, says detachment commander Sgt. Bob Dodds.

Dodds made his comments to County of Barrhead councillors during his meeting to discuss the detachment’s Annual Performance Plan (APP) and says the focus for RCMP officers in the area will be on the visibility of police through the schools, traffic safety enforcement and crime reduction initiatives to address rural crime.

“We’re all well aware of the concerns these days with rural crime and the only news I have is that everyone is in the same boat. It isn’t just Barrhead County. I’ve been handling the Westlock detachment since September and the situation is the same over there. It is everywhere, all the time,” Dodds said, noting while he is not certain of the date, the RCMP is in the process of signing a memorandum of understanding with rural crime watch associations to get more people involved.

“Because rural crime is a Canada-wide issue, every district is looking at putting together a crime reduction team, including ours and we [Barrhead detachment] have already submitted a series of names of chronic offenders that we want to focus on.”

When the unit is functional, Dodds said the members’ focus will be on repeat offenders.

“If you see someone coming past your property, driving really slowly, give us a call. That’s what we want to know about. Remember, the criminal element is armed and they aren’t playing around. We can’t have the public confronting these people or unarmed peace officers doing this either. Leave it to the RCMP. We all have the right to self-defence but it’s a fine line to tread. We can’t have vigilante justice. It isn’t Canadian,” Dodds said, adding detachment members are just as frustrated as the public.

Whenever there is a problem, whether it is the theft of gas or a serial killer, Dodds said the biggest hindrance is the lack of communication between the public and the RCMP.

“If we could start communicating the trouble that we’re having in the County of Barrhead, the Town of Barrhead and Woodlands County, what to watch out for and how to protect yourself, the more likely we are to start knocking back the horrendous statistics,” Dodds said, adding as a former farm kid himself, he knows the difficulties residents face in changing their personal proclivity to leave keys in vehicles.

Dodds said visibility of police means different things to different people.

“We are fortunate in this community, with the support of the municipalities and the school board, to have a school liaison officer and Const. Robert Hynes has been very effective in this position,” Dodds told councillors, noting a visible police presence in the community is important and believes Hynes’ position at the schools should remain an integral aspect of the detachment’s APP.

On a question from Coun. Bill Lane regarding traffic violations and the possibility of having more ‘ghost’ cars on the road, Dodds said it all depends on the results the detachment would be hoping to achieve.

“At night, if you are driving the back roads, what the criminals see are headlights. Whether that’s an unmarked police car or a farmer, that’s what they see and that’s what makes them nervous. I don’t know if ghost cars would be effective in this regard. They are better used in situations involving speeding infractions.

“Frankly, we leave most of our traffic enforcement to traffic services members from Westlock. Our APP fell off the rails last year and that’s due in large part to the lack of resources. We lost four constables to transfer last year and when you do that you lose the training associated with those individuals. We were behind the 8-ball most of the year but things are turning around now,” Dodds said.

While last year’s focus on driving down collision statistics didn’t happen, Dodds said the province routinely releases monthly traffic safety initiatives.

“We need one of our own and I think we should follow the province’s example and focus on a different safety initiative each month,” he added.

On a question from Coun. Darrell Troock regarding the effectiveness of social media posts with respect to the spread of information and why the police are not doing something similar, Dodds said by working with the local paper and utilizing Facebook pages and related platforms, the detachment has seen successes.

“I’m not a social media guy at all but I do know that when we send photos to the newspaper and they put it on their page, we get responses quickly. With respect to rural crime, there are new strategies being looked at to get relevant information out to the public and you know, the detachment can access Facebook with a stand-alone computer,” he said, adding that as far as the detachment having an actual RCMP Facebook page, they have to be cautious due to the possibility of hacking.

“As far as something working with the rural crime watch associations, an alert system or something similar, that might be appropriate and is an option we are considering,” he said.

“If your bike gets stolen in the town, join the neighbourhood watch. If your gas is stolen from your property, join the neighbourhood watch. Drop by the detachment and pick up an application form. Let’s start looking out for one another.”

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