RCMP gets earful on rural crime from worried Biggar-area residents
The RCMP are urging people BIGGAR in west-central Saskatchewan to call police and avoid confrontations, but that does not appear to have deterred some from considering using guns to protect their families and property.
“I think I should be able to defend myself and defend my property, especially if it involves my family,” said Mike Walkers, who farms near Biggar, after a Saskatchewan RCMP town hall meeting in the community west of Saskatoon.
“I don’t know what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate, but I am going to take measures into my own hands if it involves my family. I’m going to use something that’s appropriate, even if I go to jail.”
Walkers was among the roughly 120 Biggar-area residents who attended the community meeting Monday night, scheduled as part of a broader RCMP outreach strategy that includes almost 90 similar meetings across the province.
The RCMP told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix last week that the meetings were not called in response to worry and unrest following the shooting death of Colten Boushie, or the subsequent trial and acquittal of Gerald Stanley, who farmed nearby.
Walkers repeatedly pressed Biggar detachment commander Sgt. Colin Sawrenko for answers on what he is legally permitted to do should thieves come onto his property, asking, “Have we got any rights to try and stop them?”
“Do what you gotta do,” one man muttered as Walkers spoke.
Sawrenko and Staff Sgt. Greg Abbott, who represents the national police force’s central district, urged everyone present to avoid confrontations. Police officers have specialized training, and any kind of conflict can lead to unintended consequences, they said.
“What you have the right to do is completely dependent upon all of the circumstances. We are not able to give specific answers on what the victim of a crime can do because we don’t know the exact circumstances,” Abbott said.
“Call the police. Make sure you’re safe and your family’s safe. At all costs, in terms of property crime, if you can avoid a confrontation, avoid the confrontation,” Abbott said.
Defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said Canada’s self defence and property defence laws are unusual because they are almost entirely dependent on circumstances, and what might be deemed reasonable in one situation would be unreasonable in another.
Sawrenko told the meeting the detachment has five constables, one for every 981 residents in the area.