RCMP holds public town hall in Bruderheim

Members from the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP came to Bruderheim for a town hall meeting Mar. 20 where they discussed staffing, police priorities and crime statistics.

The town hall is one of several the RCMP have conducted throughout Lamont County over the past month. The Fort Saskatchewan detachment covers Fort Saskatchewan all the way to the Village of Andrew.

At least 15 Bruderheim town residents, staff and council, including Mayor Karl Hauch and Deputy Mayor Judy Schueler, came out to hear the officers speak.

Sergent James Keouch led the evening by discussing the staffing level at the Fort Saskatchewan detachment which he said is full at 31 members, but said he expects the number to grow along with Fort Saskatchewan.

“(With the) construction of plants, the projection in the next 10 years is it’s going to change infrastructure, they’re going to be making the highways bigger, and they estimate 10 to 20,000, more people are going to be in or around Fort Saskatchewan,” said Keouch.

While most crime has gone up by some degree over the past year, rural property crime has risen by 40 percent prompting questions from the audience.

“If somebody breaks into your house, what is your right to do?” asked one resident.

Corporal Robert Stark said in Canada we have a right to protect ourselves from bodily harm but not property.

“Property is not worth hurting someone,” he said. “If a person is coming in and accosting you, you can defend yourself, but if someone is stealing a tank of gas you can’t go beat the living tar out of them. In Canada we don’t have any sort of Stand Your Ground Laws like they do in the US.”

Keouch also shared that school resource officers have made a comeback in the last few months with officers assigned to 13 schools throughout Fort Saskatchewan and all schools in Lamont County. He said public concerns around safety prompted the change.

“We had people speak with our commander (saying they) wanted our presence, and we are able to provide that service,” he said. Keouch said the school resource officer will touch base with schools a few times a week as part of their day-to-day duties.

Meanwhile, Keouch asked residents if they would be interested in participating in a program, called CAPTURE, where their home surveillance camera footage could be requested if a crime occurred nearby.

He said the program doesn’t allow the RCMP to spy on anyone, rather to be able to request footage after the fact.

“It still requires hands on from you on your end to give it to us,” he said as nearly all hands were in the air supporting the initiative.

The program is currently in place in some areas of the province including Parkland County, Red Deer and Sylvan Lake.

Jana Semeniuk
Staff Reporter

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