Red Deer RCMP Supt. Gerald Grobmeier (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Troy Gillard

IMPROVEMENTS SOUGHT

Moving forward with RCMP in Red Deer

Jan 22, 2020 | 12:07 PM

While they voted to stick with the RCMP for policing services in Red Deer for the time being, Red Deer city council members have made it clear that the “status quo” is not acceptable.

Council voted 6-3 during a special meeting on Tuesday to continue contracting RCMP for policing and forego making the switch to a municipal police force.

Council also voted to explore various service level improvements in response to community needs. This includes having RCMP bring a recommendation to council regarding a local collision centre, a report on the crime mapping pilot project, a full-scale rollout of voice recorders, and an expectation for full RCMP staffing requests to be fulfilled in 2020.

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Supt. Gerald Grobmeier, Officer in Charge for Red Deer RCMP, says he’s fully onside with seeking better ways to do business.

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“That’s been my mantra since I came to Red Deer in 2015 as the operations officer,” he explained following Tuesday’s vote. “I’ve never been satisfied with the status quo and always push myself, but also those that work with me and for me, to seek innovative and better solutions.”

Grobmeier feels the policing review conducted by KPMG was well-balanced and includes valuable recommendations moving forward.

“I’m really looking forward to working with council in the near future about some of those metrics and some of those ways we report back to council. We’ve tried to improve that every year with the APP (Annual Policing Plan).”

Councillor Tanya Handley, who tabled Tuesday’s defeated motion to have Red Deer transition to a municipal police force, said she wanted more autonomy over local policing initiatives in Red Deer, likening the RCMP to a large ship that takes a long time to turn around or redirect.

Grobmeier did his best to ease those concerns.

“One thing I want to make clear is that nobody interrupts with my operations in Red Deer,” Grobmeier explained. “I don’t get guidance or pushback regarding operational matters, whether it be district, division or national headquarters. The operations of the detachment are my responsibility in conjunction with council.”

Grobmeier says council’s decision to continue with RCMP is something that will go over well with his detachment.

“My members are certainly going to be happy knowing that they have a home in Red Deer. It just brings a little bit of closure to them knowing that we won’t be leaving in the next year or two.”

Grobmeier added, “We have a lot of things that we want to implement this year and we’re very excited now that we can move forward knowing we have support from council.”

In addition to seeking service level improvements, council has also asked for reports to be brought back following the completion of the Provincial Policing Review and the Police Act Review, as well as on the future impacts of RCMP unionization.

As well, council reaffirmed its advocacy position and call to the federal and provincial governments for additional Crown prosecutors for Red Deer, stronger penalties for crime, the necessity for residential addiction treatment, and the reinstatement of auxiliary programs.