It's still early, but the indication from Battlefords RCMP Detachment is that the hoped-for freeing up of police resources has begun with the arrival of new municipal enforcement officers this summer.
This July, two "community safety officers" joined the ranks of North Battleford municipal bylaw enforcement. It is part of a six-month trial where the officers will perform "enhanced bylaw enforcement" and take on a number of public safety functions that used to belong to the RCMP, most notably in traffic enforcement.
At the City's municipal services meeting Monday, Battlefords RCMP Insp. John Sutherland gave a concrete indication to councillors about how the new municipal officers were freeing up RCMP resources to fight more serious crime.
Sutherland told council the RCMP was able to move two of its own police officers off of municipal traffic and back "onto the watches" to assist in policing functions.
The inspector also said that to address the rise in "antisocial or bad behaviour" in the community, the RCMP has deployed two more members to work on the night shift full time.
They will be working on "street crime reduction, night patrols and targeted enforcement on individuals causing some of the issues in the community."
The councillors also received numbers from administration on the activities of the municipal enforcement officers, which gave a picture of the common offences the new community safety officers were addressing during the six-month trial.
According to those statistics, community safety officer Paul Sirman dealt with 115 incidents in August under the Traffic Safety Act, which counted for 87 per cent of his total. Meanwhile, the other new officer, Stephen Zerr, dealt with 28 Traffic Safety Act violations and another 81 for speeding, of a total of 114 for the month.
The grand total of citations for all municipal officers during August was 543, with total fines of $53,721, according to Fire Chief Albert Headrick.
Headrick also noted municipal officers had performed 24 foot patrols during August. That was in addition to 31 foot patrols that month by the RCMP, an increase, Sutherland noted, in response to requests from council for more foot patrols.
Mayor Ian Hamilton also recognized the RCMP for providing training to municipal enforcement officers in the use of radar to help with their duties.
In all, council and administration say they are pleased with the results of the program so far.
"We're making great progress already," said City Manager Jim Puffalt, who particularly noted two RCMP officers were put back into addressing serious crimes as a result of the addition of the community safety officers.
"That's outstanding news, and I think once we see the agreement come back from F Division in Regina, we can see some more hours that can be diverted from RCMP officers. Two months in, this program has done what it said it would."
