By Sheldon Spackman

RCMP honour local businesses and citizen for extraordinary crime reduction efforts

Apr 18, 2018 | 12:46 PM

Red Deer RCMP took some time Wednesday morning to recognize members of the community who have recently gone above and beyond to assist local Mounties in their crime reduction efforts.

During a ceremony held at the downtown detachment, a group of business owners representing Save-On-Foods, Tim Hortons and McDonalds were honoured with a plaque for their collaboration with RCMP in a successful crime reduction project focused around the East Hill Shopping Centre last summer and fall.

Local representatives from the Insurance Bureau of Canada were also recognized for their commitment to crime reduction through a Social Media campaign, while City of Red Deer employee Lonnie Amundson was honoured for his extraordinary efforts in assisting an officer who was partially disabled with pepper spray while attempting to arrest a fleeing suspect.

Amundson, also a long-time rugby player, says he was off-duty at the time and in the Dairy Queen Drive-Thru in the city’s north end when he saw a man running from police.

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“I just put my truck in park and I ran after him and tackled him onto the street,” Amundson says matter-of-factly. “The RCMP member arrived and pepper sprayed him but in the midst of pepper spraying him, the recoil from the pepper spray ended up getting into his eyes, so he couldn’t really arrest the individual. So I assisted the member in arresting him, putting the handcuffs on, holding him down, restraining him while the member tried to clear his eyes so he could see and do what he needed to do.”

Amundson says he was never concerned about the potential danger posed by the situation and adds he would do it again in a heartbeat.

“I’m thankful for doing it because personally, I don’t like the crime that’s happening in Red Deer,” states Amundson. “I think that more civilians need to do more things, not necessarily tackle the culprits down but maybe more reporting side of things. That was my first instinct was just to get up and tackle him, never thought anything of it.”

Ken Foster, Superintendent, Red Deer RCMP says it’s important for the RCMP to recognize outstanding achievements within the community that help public safety and assist the police.

“The more that we do that sort of stuff shows the public that we are engaged, we’re working with the citizens, we all have a common interest and you know what, it’s the right thing to do,” explains Foster. “We never ask or direct people to take the law into their own hands or place themselves in harm’s way but people see things happen, people react and there are provisions within the criminal code for public arrest. We don’t encourage it, call the police but when it does happen, it’s outstanding and it needs to be recognized.”

Foster says what’s important to make note of is the collaboration that’s taking place between Mounties and the public they serve.

“We’re starting to see the fruits of our labour, explains Foster. “ We had launched ‘Pinpoint’ in April two years ago. That’s a very advanced crime reduction strategy, it uses analytics, it leverages the partners that are out there and relative to the rest of the province, our crime stats have flattened-out and in fact are starting to come down and it’s being strategic with our resources.”