Rural Crime Watch public meetings in Taber and Vauxhall

The Taber/Vauxhall RCMP Detachment is holding public meetings in Taber and Vauxhall on March 16 to try and generate interest in creating a Rural Crime Watch Program for the district.

“I believe that crime reduction and prevention is a community responsibility which needs to involve the general public as well as local law enforcement agencies,” Sgt. G.M. (Gordon) Yetman, Detachment Commander of the Taber/Vauxhall RCMP Detachment, said. “The MD of Taber has not had a Rural Crime Watch Program since about 2003 so this is our chance to regain the initiative and implement a program that will almost certainly help to reduce and prevent crime in the area.

Sgt. Yetman says that although the community has not specifically requested implementation of a Rural Crime Watch, it would be beneficial for local law enforcement to have additional eyes and ears out in the rural areas. The meetings, Sgt. Yetman says, are being held to initially gauge interest in the formation of a Rural Crime Watch group within the MD of Taber and to hopefully identify potential board members that will be instrumental in getting the group up and running.

“All crime is a cause for concern but crime occurring in our rural areas presents unique challenges given the isolated locations of many rural properties and in many cases, the distance of these properties from the local detachment,” Sgt. Yetman says.

The meetings, Sgt. Yetman says, are being organized by Taber/Vauxhall RCMP Detachment in conjunction with the Municipal District of Taber and the Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch Association. The Taber meeting will be held at the MD of Taber Fire Station, which is located at 581464th Avenue in Taber, at 10:00 am while the Vauxhall meeting will be held at the Vauxhall Fire Station, which is located at 935-1 Avenue North in Vauxhall, at 2:00 pm.

“I would like to see as many people come out to these meetings as possible as the MD of Taber covers a large geographical area with a fairly large population,” Sgt. Yetman says. “It would be beneficial to have people out in the rural area that could report incidents to police in a timely manner. Being a member of Rural Crime Watch would also involve a training component for their members and would allow for timely sharing of information on activities such as suspicious persons or vehicles out in our rural areas.”

Sgt. Yetman explains that a representative from the Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch Association will give an overview of the program and the requirements for starting a group within the MD of Taber during both meetings. These meetings, he adds, are part of the ongoing crime reduction strategy that Taber/Vauxhall RCMP Detachment has to increase visibility within communities and not only identify, but manage public offenders.

“I hope to see maximum attendance at the meetings on March 16th and also hope that a board can be formed so that the Rural Crime Watch program can be implemented within the MD of Taber in the very near future,” Sgt. Yetman says. “At the end of the day, it will be up to the residents of our rural area as to whether or not this program is what they want. I would also like to thank the MD of Taber Council for their support in hosting these meetings as well as Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch Association for coming out to present the information to those in attendance.”