RCMP meet with Biggar residents to hear concerns
It’s part of outreach in the area to explain force’s strategy and get local feedback
We know that we do not have the resources to be everywhere in rural Saskatchewan at one time.
A heavy snowfall didn’t stop the Saskatchewan RCMP from visiting Biggar-area residents Monday night, part of a broader outreach strategy that involves almost 90 town hall meetings across the province.
About 120 people made their way to the town’s community hall by 7 p.m., with more trickling in.
Ed Sittler, who farms about 30 kilometres west of Biggar in Landis, said he hasn’t experienced property crime directly, but his neighbours have, and he is concerned.
“The solution is awareness,” he said. In the past, people haven’t wanted to talk about property crime, Sittler said, but he hopes meetings like this will get people talking and awareness will lead to prevention.
RCMP say the meetings are not a response to unrest or worry following the 2016 shooting death of Colten Boushie and acquittal last month of Gerald Stanley, who farmed near Biggar.
Perdue-area residents are scheduled to have their meeting Thursday evening. According to the RCMP, each of the 87 detachments that make up F Division has had, or will have, a similar gathering over the coming weeks.
Staff Sgt. Rob Embree said last week that the aim of the meetings is to outline the force’s rural crime strategies and solicit feedback and suggestions from each community’s residents.
“We’re just trying to create a dialogue here, communication. Obviously, as police officers we want to have those conversations with our stakeholders, the people that we serve anywhere in Saskatchewan,” Embree said.
The issue of property crime is likely to dominate many of the meetings. Worry about theft and vandalism has flared up in Saskatchewan, and led to new government and RCMP initiatives.
In August, then-justice minister Gord Wyant unveiled a new $5.9million protection and response team, consisting of 258 armed officers — including 30 new positions — aimed at curbing rural crime.
Embree said the RCMP has its own plans, including an intelligence-based “targeted enforcement” crime reduction team and a reservist program of retired officers who maintain their training.
“We know that we do not have the resources to be everywhere in rural Saskatchewan at one time,” Embree said of the reason underlying the new strategies, adding that some 55 communities have recently set up or reactivated rural crime watch groups.
“At the end of the day, we can’t be successful without their support, for them being involved in the communities, particularly in Saskatchewan where the geographic challenges are significant.”
Boushie was shot in the head on Stanley’s Biggar-area farm in August 2016. The incident became a symbol of fractured relations in rural areas, and sparked heated debate about rural crime.