By rdnewsNOW staff

more boots on the ground

10 new Mounties to tackle crime in Wetaskiwin region

Apr 13, 2021 | 8:48 PM

Ten new RCMP officers are being deployed to Wetaskiwin to address high crime rates in the city and surrounding rural areas.

The RCMP will establish a six-member regional crime reduction unit targeting high-risk and repeat offenders and add four officers to the City of Wetaskiwin’s municipal policing contingent at an estimated cost of $5.1 million to the provincial government.

“Sustained increases in crime in Wetaskiwin over the past five years demand action. This plan will put more officers where they’re needed, and will support intelligence-led policing that focuses investigative efforts on repeat offenders who are often responsible for a disproportionately large share of crime,” said Kaycee Madu, Justice Minister and Solicitor General.

“Having more members on our roads helps the RCMP respond to issues and contributes to our overall reduction strategies. The creation of a crime reduction team will augment an already proven, effective tool in addressing repeat offenders, with the remaining members being flexible in their utilization in general policing duties,” said Curtis Zablocki, deputy commissioner, RCMP.

Between 2015 and 2019, Statistics Canada recorded a 52 per cent increase in the City of Wetaskiwin’s crime severity index – a method of measuring crime that places a higher weight on more serious and violent offences. During the same time, the property crime rate increased 50 per cent.

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Provincial officials say crime reduction units created by the RCMP in other areas of Alberta since 2018 have been effective in identifying and catching prolific offenders who are often mobile and commit crimes in multiple communities. A crime reduction unit based in Wetaskiwin will operate in the city and surrounding rural areas and be capable of sharing intelligence and coordinating investigations with RCMP teams in neighbouring jurisdictions.

The new unit will be funded under the provincial police service agreement, which splits the costs of policing in small and rural communities between the provincial government and the federal government. The provincial government’s 70 per cent contribution will be an estimated $1 million a year, with the federal government contributing the remaining 30 per cent from Public Safety Canada.

In addition, a grant agreement between the provincial government and the City of Wetaskiwin will add four new members to the RCMP’s existing municipal contingent of 27 officers. The provincial government will contribute just over $2 million to help fund the new positions for three years.

This is a time-limited grant designed to help the municipality respond to an urgent need for more police. After three years, the City of Wetaskiwin will assume funding responsibility for these added positions under the terms of its municipal policing contract with Public Safety Canada.