The Yorkton RCMP wants to respond to the needs of the community. But in order to respond to those needs, they need to know what those needs are, and that was the purpose behind two town hall meetings hosted by the municipal detachment.
At the meeting, Staff Sgt. Jeff Simpson presented some of the things that the local RCMP is doing in the community, crime trends in Yorkton and the RCMP’s priorities for the future before asking community members what they want to know more about and what areas give them concern in the city.
For the local RCMP, the goal is to engage the community, explained Simpson. While they know what crimes are being reported and what the trends are, they want to know whether people feel safe in the community and where they might have concerns.
“Without that connection, without that ability to have face-to-face interactions with the people in the community, it doesn’t give us the full picture of what is occurring in the community.”
Just going by crime statistics does not necessarily give the RCMP a complete picture of the state of a city, explained Simpson.
“We see the crimes, we see the reports that are coming in. Sometimes some of the crimes that are occurring aren’t being reported so we don’t have a full picture of what is happening. For example, domestic assault or violence is not being reported just by the nature of the incident. Minor property crime, people might just go it’s not worth getting the police involved over, it’s just a can of gas or whatever. Sometimes these opportunities to actually form relationships and communicate or consult with the public open our eyes to a broader picture or a broader sense, not only of the crimes that are occurring, but the overall sense of safety the community feels. That’s a hard thing for us to gauge or just to read off a report.”
The meetings were also a way for the RCMP to highlight some of the initiatives they are working on as well as other community outreach programs. The local RCMP is working on a database of the city’s outdoor CCTV cameras, for example, because those cameras can sometimes help solve a crime even if it doesn’t affect the owner of that particular camera, given that it may still see the incident. Simpson noted that a large robbery case in 2017 had major breaks thanks to CCTV. There are more informal meetings as well, such as the monthly Coffee With the Cops program.
“Sometimes as a police agency we don’t do enough to educate the community on the different things that are happening. This is an opportunity for us to talk about the community engagement things like we did today, but also some of the crime trends, problems and challenges we are dealing with in the future. Crime prevention and a successful crime prevention strategy requires there to be a strong relationship and a strong commitment between the community and the police to address these concerns together. Without that partnership, our chances for success operating by ourselves decreases significantly.”
The event also focused on what the RCMP sees as issues they see in Yorkton in the next year. Gang activity is a concern in Yorkton, as it as seen as a growth area for organized crime, and Simpson notes that gang activity as responsible for a significant increase in violent crime, as well as an increase in crystal meth usage in the city, which also leads to an increase in property crime. Cocaine is also on the rise in Yorkton. Impaired driving is also an issue in Yorkton, whether in terms of alcohol or other drugs, and something Simpson sees as becoming an increasing issue as marijuana gets legalized. Saskatchewan has the highest impaired driving rates in Canada.
Simpson emphasizes that while these were more formal events, they are open to community input at all times.
“We have an open door policy 365 days a year.”
