Grainswest - Winter 2019

Winter 2019 Grains West 30 where excessive force is used as a scare tactic, he said the decision to lay charges lands with the Crown prosecutor. “It’s in these situations the Crown needs to do a real fulsome look at the circumstances of a case before they decide to lay a charge. “It would potentially be opening an incredible door to suggest there will be some general exceptions built into the Criminal Code if, hypothetically, someone living in a rural community can use a different level of force than might be [used] in an urban environment,” said King. Such a move, he explained, would contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and couldn’t be passed. “Is it going to happen? Hell no. Is there anything wrong with trying to advocate for it? Oh, hell no.” Importantly, the public and political debate on the issue has driven the provincial government, police, volunteer organizations and rural residents to take action. MAKING A CHANGE On March 9, 2018, the Government of Alberta launched a rural crime reduction strategy created in cooperation with the RCMP. It adopted methods the force has successfully implemented elsewhere. “We worked in partnership with the RCMP to determine how funding could be used in the most efficient and effective way, with a view toward what could be implemented quickly and have an immediate impact,” said Jason van Rassel, a communications advisor with the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General. The initiative included the allocation of a $10 million injection—$8 million for the hiring of 39 RCMP officers and 40 civilian staff as well as $2 million to hire Crown prosecutors in rural Alberta. Later that year at a November news conference, Kathleen Ganley, Alberta NDP MLA for Calgary-Buffalo, and minister of justice and solicitor general, said a total of 59 officers, which included the 39, had been hired “between the rural crime strategy and budget.” In 2018/19, the province reported spending $500 million on policing, including 1,560 rural officer positions. This seven-point strategy to reduce rural crime featured the establishment of four regional Crime Reduction Units. These are tasked with arresting repeat offenders and extinguishing crime hotspots. A civilian criminal analyst and an RCMP supervisor are attached to each mobile, five-officer unit associated with one of four districts—eastern, central, southern and western. They can assist any detachment or work on crime trends affecting various areas. From February to November 2018, Ganley said the units made nearly 700 arrests and laid approximately 2,300 charges. “In making these arrests and laying these charges, the targets are repeat offenders,” said Laurel Scott, a media relations officer with the Alberta RCMP K Division in Edmonton. “Our goal is to have them stop offending.” She said a small group of habitual criminals is responsible for a large amount of crime. Measures include having them held in custody or facing increased jail time, but also providing social assistance. Perpetrators tend to cross jurisdictional borders such as those between detachments, police forces and provinces. “With mobile units, we have the ability to target and try to stop them,” said Scott. Information sharing is key to the new policing effort. Each unit analyst also acts as an intelligence coordinator, gathering and sharing information with partnering police agencies. The establishment of a paperwork policing support service has freed constables for field work and call-back units in Calgary and Edmonton handle non-emergency calls that are non-time- sensitive and don’t pose a threat to public safety. Ganley claimed the units will save more than 9,000 hours of officer time, or the workload of nine general- duty constables annually. From January to November 2018, Ganley said the strategy saw property FEATURE Recently hit by the theft of equipment and tools, farmer and Alberta Pulse Growers’ zone two director Doug Sell said he and his neighbours have vowed to be more vigilant. Photo: Courtesy of Alberta Pulse Growers.