POLICING PRIORITIES
Sgt. Shane Himmelman chats with a citizen during Mochas with Mounties at the Leduc Coffee Shop on Thursday. Residents voiced their opinions on policing priorities.
Social media can fuel unnecessary fears about crime, said a Leduc woman on Thursday at the first Mochas with Mounties meeting in the area.
“It’s the first place people go when they want to find out what’s happening right now, like ‘Hey did you hear that loud noise?’ or ‘Did you see that funny car in the neighbourhood?’ and then people psyche themselves out,” Alana Dawley told an RCMP officer at the gathering in a Leduc coffee shop intended to address local crime concerns.
Officers asked residents to fill out a survey on what they want to see police prioritize.
Dawley, who has lived in Leduc for a year-and-a-half, says the city feels relatively safe. But community Facebook groups can tell another story. She said the speculation and rumours in these groups can amplify threats, causing people to worry when they don’t need to.
In January she saw a helicopter while out for a run, and when she got home she went on Facebook to find out what was happening.
Some neighbours reported rumours about active home invasions and police using the helicopter to chase down a suspect.
She told her husband what was happening.
“‘Let’s close our doors, close our blinds, cuddle the kids,’ and then we find out they were looking for someone who had a warrant for an arrest … that was just running, he wasn’t actively evading anything,” Dawley told an officer at the meeting.
Seeing that helicopter put people on alert and rumours started circulating, she added.
But Staff Sgt. James Derouin, who recalled the case, told another story. Police had a warrant out for a man over a non-violent crime, and were waiting for him outside his home when he made a break for it.
“He starts trucking down the road, and a helicopter just happened to be coming back, and they heard we were looking for this guy. That’s why the helicopter got involved,” he said.
“In a million years, we would have never called a helicopter for this; it was just purely coincidence he was flying back to the airport, and you know, we all want to pitch in … so he goes, ‘You know, I’ll give you guys a hand, no problem.’”
RCMP Const. Cheri-lee Smith said she has seen similar things on social media. While she understands people want to let their neighbours know what is going on, sometimes when they post on Facebook, they don’t tell police.
“It’s human nature to be curious,” she said. “We can’t stop them from wanting to share that online, but I would suggest only speak in facts that you know.
“When we’re dealing with an active situation, we always ask that people not talk about where they are, because it could be a situation where there’s safety to the public or officer-safety concerns.”
Police regularly update the public by sending news releases to the media, city officials, and often share them on their own social media accounts.
As for crime in Leduc, Smith says they have officers focusing on finding repeat offenders, and are working with an analyst on identifying crime hot spots to reduce crime in those areas.