Positive feedback for RCMP at Oyen area meetings
The feedback was mostly positive at four public sessions held by the Oyen RCMP at communities in the jurisdiction recently.
“A Conversation with Cops” was held in Oyen on Feb. 27, MD of Acadia (Acadia Valley) on Feb. 28, Empress on March 4, and Cereal on March 5.
Cpl. Jamie Day, commander of the Oyen RCMP detachment said the meetings were held as a way for the RCMP to share priorities, success stories, and to receive feedback and answer questions from the public.
Day said that typically, he attends council meetings to discuss areas that need focus from the RCMP, trends, and ways the RCMP work to reduce crime.
“Every year, I go to council meetings and engage with the councillors about priority areas and places to focus. I’ve noticed that not a lot of people come out to the meetings to learn about these things,” said Day.
“So, let’s have a conversation with the people and also share with them our successes.”
While they were able to share some success stories, others they could not go into detail because the cases are still before the courts.
Besides their official duties as police officers, members of the Oyen detachment are active in the communities they serve and engage with local residents. They also recognize the importance and value in youth empowerment and engagement.
“People at the meetings were surprised to learn how much we do,” he said.
Day noted that while they have seen an increase in calls to the detachment, rural crime remains fairly low.
“Rural crime goes in spurts, but rural crime is fairly low,” he said.
The detachment has changed up their staffing schedule so officers are not out patrolling at the same times every day.
“This is a small detachment and it would be very easy for somebody to know when and where we are going to be, so we mixed up the schedule,” he said, adding that they are patrolling rural roads more frequently and will be going to more remote areas.
Day said most of the feedback from the public at the meetings was positive an overall, he did not hear a lot of concern.
The detachment and the Town of Oyen will be developing an online survey to try to reach people who could not attend the meetings or did not feel comfortable speaking out at the meeting. No timeline was given for when the online survey would be made available.
“We want to provide the best police service we can,” said Day.