From January to March of this year, the Smithers RCMP Detachment responded to or proactively created 1,092 calls for service within the detachment area, Staff Sgt. Terry Gillespie reported to town council at its June 22 meeting.
This compares to 1,164 calls for service during the same period in 2019. Gillespie noted this includes proactively generated files such as breaches from curfew checks and roadblocks.
Of these files, 223 were drug or alcohol-related, 48 were violence in relationships, and 59 were mental health-related. This compares to 231 drug or alcohol-related files for the same period in 2019, 47 violence in relationships files, and 62 mental health-related files.
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During this period, the Smithers RCMP forwarded 64 files to the Provincial Crown Prosecutor’s office recommending charges, compared to 84 in the same period in 2019.
In the last quarter, there were 76 Prisoners lodged at the Smithers detachment.
The detachment is now up to ten municipal police officers, six provincial police officers, and two First Nation police officers. Along with clerical staff, the detachment also employs eight detention guards/matrons, one victim services manager and three volunteers, two volunteer auxiliary constables, and four provincial traffic services police officers.
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The performance objectives for the 2020-2021 fiscal year continue to be: alcohol and drug addiction, community-police relationships, road safety and crime reduction.
In the latest quarter, for alcohol and drug reduction, the detachment delivered the “DARE” program to local schools.
For enhancing community-police relations the detachment conducted three foot patrols, engaged with three external agencies, and met with community partners 29 times.
In terms of traffic safety, the detachment members caught 34 impaired drivers.
Crime reduction focussed on keeping tabs on offenders who are released on court conditions. Officers conducted 68 curfew checks, forwarded three breach charges for prolific offenders, attended two community meetings, and held one external partner meeting.
The Smithers detachment will also be involved in the community situation table — a collaboration between various front-line service providers to mitigate risks for vulnerable people by rapidly connecting them with services before they experience a negative or traumatic event. Cpl. Irvine will be spearheading this initiative for the RCMP.
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Cpl. Ryan Law in Smithers RCMP new side by side. (Deb Meissner photo)
