Oceanside RCMP Staff Sgt. Brian Hunter didn’t hold back in his applause for his staff March 13 at a Parksville Chamber of Commerce dinner hosted by Tigh-Na-Mara Resort.
“Words cannot describe how well our members have done in the last week,” said Hunter.
“The community should be really proud of our detachment.”
Hunter said RCMP saw the busiest five-day period of the year “based on how labor intensive and serious the cases were.” Hunter went on to describe how police arrested a suspect in a daytime break-and-enter shortly after it was called in, located a missing Qualicum Beach woman suffering from dementia, responded to a severe residential assault in rural Qualicum Beach resulting in attempted murder charges, attended an armed robbery in Errington and assisted the fire department in investigating an explosion in Dashwood which resulted from an illicit drug production operation.
“The members at our detachment did an outstanding job,” said Hunter.
“We had 10 to 12 members working 16 hour shifts — we are really lucky to have them.”
Hunter said while the RCMP continues to investigate the armed robbery case in Errington, police have a few people of interest in mind and “that crime will be solved.”
Going into the 2014 year, Hunter expressed confidence in what he described as a “dedicated” team of members at the Oceanside detachment.
Hunter said this year the detachment’s “strategic priorities” consist of youth, traffic and crime reduction with a focus on property crime.
He said these priorities come as a result of a February meeting between RCMP and community leaders, as well as the time Hunter spends engaging in the community itself.
