Every year, RCMP detachments are required to update an annual performance plan that outlines four main objectives with initiatives catered specifically to trends within the municipality the department serves. Sgt.
Every year, RCMP detachments are required to update an annual performance plan that outlines four main objectives with initiatives catered specifically to trends within the municipality the department serves.
Sgt. Jim Lank presented the Sundre detachment's 2017-18 plan to council during its April 18 workshop.
Property crime remains a top priority, and the sergeant expressed a desire to help reintroduce a Citizens on Patrol program.
Other initiatives to reduce property crimes such as vehicle thefts will include various investigative and enforcement techniques that the sergeant was not at liberty to discuss in order to avoid potentially compromising future police efforts.
The department's other three goals are as follows: fostering positive police and community relations as well as contributing to safer youth, ensuring the roads are safe, and reducing crime through a habitual offender program, said Lank.
Among the initiatives identified in the department's effort to build the best relationships possible with the community are to create opportunities for officers to engage with youth to help develop and instill positive, respectful and socially responsible attitudes and values. Such interactions might be made possible through informal drop-in visits to the schools and recreational facilities, participation in sports such as coaching, as well as leadership roles in clubs and organizations, he said.
Officers will also seek to provide a number of informative presentations and discussions with students, primarily through the schools, on topics such as the risks of drugs, alcohol, social media, cyber crimes and bullying, he said.
In the effort to improve road safety, members of the detachment will be expected to write at least 10 traffic contacts per month — in the form of either warnings or fines — with a focus on high risk traffic offences that pose the greatest risk to public safety, including speed, distracted driving, seatbelts, intersection related offences and impaired driving, he said.
Sundre RCMP will also implement numerous check stop initiatives throughout the year during high volume traffic locations on long weekends, holidays and special events such as the annual pro rodeo, he said.
To reduce crime through sustained enforcement of judicially ordered sanctions or conditions involving repeat offenders, the department will continue to pursue the habitual offender management program, he said.
"This is mandatory for all RCMP detachments."
The program is a crime reduction initiative designed to target habitual offenders in order to prevent and reduce crime. Repeat offenders can be individuals of just about all ages who have been identified as having a significant criminal record or a known history of repeated and ongoing criminal behaviour. The idea is to target the small portion of individuals who commit most of the property crime, he said.
"They cause the most harm to a community."
Municipalities that have had this program in place for a few years have seen significant reductions in crime rates, he added.
To that end, the Sundre detachment will conduct at least one conditions check per week, at random times, on each habitual offender, who are individually informed once he or she has been placed in the program and then subsequently offered information on support services to help the person back on the right track. However, any breach of conditions will normally result in new charges being laid and a bail hearing conducted, he said.
"If they choose to rehabilitate or get help, we provide them with that information."
