Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Membership in Rural Crime Watch surging

- ALEX MACPHERSON amacpherso­n@postmedia.com

Judy Harwood remembers sitting around her dining room table with a few friends and neighbours, and forming the Rural Municipali­ty of Corman Park’s first Rural Crime Watch group almost 25 years ago.

Back then, she said, anyone in the prosperous RM surroundin­g Saskatoon could pay $5 for a membership, a spot on the telephone tree and a metal sign to post in the yard, warning the neighbours are watching.

“I can’t even recall if there was a specific incident that started it all, but a group of us decided that we needed to do something,” said Harwood, who has served as reeve of the RM since 2012 and still has the sign.

Tim Brodt got involved with his local Rural Crime Watch, in the RM of Edenwold east of Regina, even earlier; he has been keeping an eye on nearby properties and reporting suspicious activity since the late 1980s

“I’m a big supporter of the Rural Crime Watch. I think it works and being the proximity we are to the city … we have a lot of transient people coming through,” said Brodt, now a councillor in the RM.

“That’s the problem. If you see all these yellow signs, if you see people starting to take pictures of you, the bad guys are going to say, ‘Geez, let’s go someplace else.’ That’s what we’re hoping.”

Rural Crime Watches in Corman Park and Edenwold persevered. But while Brodt and Harwood remained enthusiast­ic, numbers dwindled. This time last year, there were just a handful of active groups.

Then things started to change. According to the Saskatchew­an Associatio­n of Rural Municipali­ties (SARM) and the RCMP, there are now around 100 spread across Saskatchew­an, with more forming

every month.

The organizer of one new group, which formed earlier this year at Christophe­r Lake, told the Saskatoon Starphoeni­x she expected 40 people at the first meeting. More than 150 showed up, all of them eager to help.

SARM president Ray Orb and others have attributed the surging interest in Rural Crime Watch to concerns about what some have called “out of control” rural crime and comparativ­ely slow police response times.

The issue flared up in the aftermath of Colten Boushie’s shooting

I think it’s starting to make a difference. We’ll hopefully get all of the rural municipali­ties involved.

on a Biggar-area farm two summers ago, and has led the provincial government to debut several new initiative­s, including a new 258-officer rural crime team.

While some have questioned the actual severity of crime in rural areas, and Statistics Canada shows the rate of property crime per 100,000 people in the province climbed six per cent between 2012 and 2016, SARM is neverthele­ss planning to establish an umbrella associatio­n aimed at sharing best practices and helping new Rural Crime Watches get off the ground.

“I think it’s starting to make a difference. We’ll hopefully get all of the rural municipali­ties involved, all 296,” Orb said Tuesday.

The first formal meeting was held last week, and Orb said he hopes all of the province’s RMS will be on board by the end of the year. It’s another part of the solution to concerns across the province, he said.

While there are no clear data on the effectiven­ess of Rural Crime Watch, the Saskatchew­an RCMP has for months been promoting the “observe and report” groups at town hall meetings held in rural communitie­s across the province.

Tammy Patterson, inspector in charge of crime prevention and reduction at Regina-based F Division, wouldn’t speculate on what is driving interest in Rural Crime Watch, but said the groups have several benefits.

Not only does Rural Crime Watch — which has graduated to email and group chats from telephone trees — provide clear lines of communicat­ion with police, informatio­n gathered can also assist with investigat­ions, she said.

“I think it (also) gives them a sense of empowermen­t, where they can do something to take some control over whatever perceived threat they see in that area.”

While Harwood has stepped back from her involvemen­t in Rural Crime Watch, she remains committed to the concept.

“It’s watching out for your neighbours and being vigilant.”

 ??  ?? Ray Orb
Ray Orb

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