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Olds councillors call for victim impact statements from community

Photos of licence plates of stolen vehicles also suggested
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Olds RCMP commanding officer Jim MacDonald was asked by councillors whether he thought it might be possible to have victim impact statements from the community presented in court. He couldn't say for sure. Doug Collie/MVP Staff

OLDS — Maybe the courts should not only consider victim impact statements from individuals who have been wronged by criminals but also take such statements from the community.

That’s the suggestion that was posed by Mayor Mike Muzychka and Coun. Mary Jane Harper to Staff Sgt. Jim MacDonald, the commanding officer of Olds RCMP during a recent Olds council policies and priorities meeting.

Harper said she heard that idea from a Crown prosecutor during an Innisfail Crime Watch meeting a couple of weeks ago.

“I can’t speak to what the court would accept in a situation like that because that’s unique to me. I’ve never actually heard of that; I don’t know if it happens in other jurisdictions,” MacDonald said.

“Now personally as a police officer, would I love for something like that to be there for the judges to understand the magnitude of the crime, the impact that it has on the community? Absolutely,” he added.

“But I can’t speak to how that would be accepted in the court system.”

In a related question, Coun. Mitch Thomson said the City of Red Deer recently bought a camera to identify the licence plates of vehicles in that community that have allegedly been stolen.

He asked MacDonald if that might work in Olds.

MacDonald said the volume of vehicle thefts in Red Deer is much higher than it is in Olds.  

“We have a significant number here, but when you think about it, we have one reported stolen vehicle – or actually is it two reported stolen vehicles – every week roughly, whereas a city like Red Deer would have many, many a day,” MacDonald said.

“I’ve got to put a little bit more research into it to give you a definitive answer to see whether we would benefit in the town of Olds to see, because I don’t know even how much that would cost and I wouldn’t want to say,” he added.

“Any piece of technology to help policing is good, but it’s a matter of could the cost of that piece of equipment go to something else that might be a better crime prevention or crime reduction issue in the town of Olds.”

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