Columbia Valley RCMP Report

During my many meetings within the community the Columbia Valley RCMP Detachment has to identify a number of priorities and come up with some initiatives to work on those priorities. Certain goals are established at which time I then have to report quarterly to our district office how things are going.  I also report these to the three councils in the valley.  And it wouldn’t hurt if I report them also to the community members.  This is the best way to do so.  Three main priorities that are identified yearly are drug and alcohol abuse, visibility in the community and traffic safety.

Traffic safety is a provincial priority that the detachment must contribute to.

Will deal with the ugly first.  No-one likes getting tickets, especially me, but it happens.  Our focus on our traffic initiative are the following offences; intersection, seatbelt, aggressive driving, driver distraction and impaired driving. Although the officers who work at the detachment are not a primary traffic unit as we have from South East District traffic, we are expected to contribute to this priority.  In the first fiscal quarter April to June we recorded 176 charges.  This last quarter from July-September we recorded 222 charges. Over the years we average approximately 700-800 Motor Vehicle Act charges. Our goal is to remain consistent with this.  Impaired charges, which include the road side suspensions, have resulted in 17 charges to date.  As our manpower situation is getting better my expectations is that we will seek out and charge more drivers with impaired offences.

Drug and alcohol abuse: education/enforcement

We have a serious problem in the valley with drugs. We implemented an initiative that identifies our prolific offenders. This initiative recognizes that the majority of the crime in the valley is done by a small minority.  Many of the other crimes we investigate are the direct result of drug and alcohol abuse issues.  If we tackle the major problem and get results we hope to see a decline in the other crimes.  Our job at the detachment is to make life safe and comfortable for our citizens while making life very uncomfortable for our prolific offenders – to the point that they may want to leave the area.

The officers will identify our problem people and once we have done this we will then pay a great deal of attention to that person or group.  We try to keep this list short so that we pay them the attention they deserve and once charged, or they move on, we will then add another to our prolific offender initiative.  At the start of the year it was my hope that we can identify and charge 10 prolific offenders and have them before the courts.  To date we have 20 charges with more to come.  A number of search warrants have been executed where charges have been laid.  When those persons are released with conditions, we monitor those conditions and look at opportunities they easily provide to breach them and return them to court.

A group that was active in the valley is no longer in the valley.  All had been charged and some presently have warrants for their arrest. There are always people willing to fill the void.  We have had good success at winning some battles and we will continue to make life uncomfortable them.

In the never-ending battle with drug and alcohol abuse the detachment is also involved with education.  We are involved with the DARE program in the elementary school.  This program does not concentrate on drug education but it concentrates on how our children can deal with all sorts of peer pressures.  We also reach out to adults in keeping parents up to date on new drug trends.  I encourage the PAC clubs to contact me for a presentation.

Visibility: People want to see us out on the road.  A great deal of the paper work does keep us in front of a computer but given the charges we have had the officers are getting results as well as interacting with the community.  The more enjoyable part of policing in a small community is being involved in the community.

This last summer we used up $10,000 in seasonal policing.  That includes, extra patrols, bike patrols, boat and ATV patrols.  The officers are involved in sport activities, minor hockey, coaching, cadets, junior hockey as well as volunteering with the fire department.

I continue to make myself available to attend any meetings you may wish me to be a guest speaker to talk on any subject you wish me to speak on or just come in and provide you an update on our detachment activities.  I enjoy these meetings, more so if you feed me.

The detachment this last summer worked short staffed.  A number of new faces are now working at the detachment with the newest officer arriving this week from training in Regina.

Drivers use caution

I noticed this year that some of the younger kids going to Eileen Madson Primary School are strutting their independence and riding their bikes to school.  Due to their age and from what I see from control limitations, the kids are using the sidewalk which is good.  A few of the kids are pretty young and it is my opinion from watching them go from side to side and using the full width of the sidewalk to struggle up the incline, they may be mixing beer with their cornflakes at breakfast.  My fear is they may without warning enter the driving portion of the road.  For you drivers, keep this in mind when you see the young children riding their bikes on the sidewalks.  Drive accordingly and prepare to take evasive action should this happen.  I will do my part at the next Bike Rodeo and bring along our ASD and will impound a few bikes.

Above image: The detachment held a public open house last spring to allow the community to visit and meet the officers, helping to provide some education about valley policing. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

S/Sgt. Marko Shehovac

Columbia Valley RCMP Detachment

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