By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Penhold looking to strengthen community safety

May 22, 2018 | 12:10 PM

The Town of Penhold is stepping up efforts to make the community safer.

Town council has approved the striking of an aptly-named Safe Community Committee, which will work to consult with the community and create a plan.

Mayor Mike Yargeau says Penhold could be safer on several fronts, whether it’s property crime or dealing with speeding.

“We’re looking at getting some more community involvement, like starting up a ‘Citizens on Patrol,’ more community awareness programs about how to protect yourself, how to protect your property,” he says. “Just in general, we want to make the community safer, but you need a full community to buy into that and do it. Our goal is to get more people involved in this process and take it from there.”

Yargeau points to the fact two highways – one major and one secondary – go through the town as reason for issues with speeding.

October 2024 Trial

Trial date set for employee charged in alleged Didsbury care home assault

A few minutes ago

Thursday April 25

Hunting Hills High School to host biennial Bike-A-Thon

55m ago

Chad Krahn

Unofficial 2024 By-Election Results

12h ago

Then there’s the crime, something he says Penhold isn’t worse or better off with compared to other central Alberta communities.

“That’s the driving force behind why we’re starting this up,” he says. “Property crime has been on a steady rise in central Alberta. We’ve been pushing reporting over the last number of years so that numbers are accurate.”

Yargeau says part of the plan is offering education to residents about how to make their property less attractive to criminals.

“This was a major election issue for all of us. We felt even in our discussions with RCMP that we need to get the community involved and have them be part of the process,” he says. “One mayor and a council isn’t going to stop crime from happening.”

The Safe Community Committee will be overseen by councillors Ken Denson, Shaun Kranenborg and Sharolyn Sanchez. A report is expected back to council in October.

The first public meeting will be held May 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the Municipal Board Room at the Multiplex.