CANORA - “We are here to talk about policing and challenges we face in our detachment.”
With those words, Sgt. Derek Friesen of the Canora and Sturgis RCMP Detachment welcomed attendees to the RCMP Town Hall Meeting at the Canora Golf Course Activity Centre on a cold and snowy March 4 evening.
“The ultimate goal of the RCMP is contributing to safe homes and safe communities,” said Friesen. “Right now, we’re fully staffed. We have eight officers working out of Canora at the moment.”
Friesen gave detailed information on the question, “Where does our money go?”
- 76 per cent goes toward pay and benefits;
- 10 per cent to capital and operating maintenance;
- Seven per cent to transportation costs;
- Four per cent to investigational support and policing equipment;
- Two per cent to technology supporting investigators; and
- One per cent to training.
The approximate year-round population of the detachment area is 9,000. That includes the following communities: Canora (2,092), Preeceville (1,125), Sturgis (620), Buchanan (218), Stenen (90) and Rama (70).
Rural municipalities located within the detachment area: RM of Good Lake (930), RM of Preeceville (919), RM of Clayton (592), RM of Hazel Dell (515), RM of Sliding Hills (421), RM of Keys (390), RM of Buchanan (330), RM of Invermay (325) and RM of Insinger (315).
Those at the meeting were given detailed information on trends in calls received by the detachment. In 2022 there were a total of 2,742 calls; 2,035 in Canora and 707 from the Sturgis area. In 2023, Canora calls increased to 2,197, while the number of Sturgis calls fell to 603.
Friesen went on to share the trends in different types of calls. Some of the most notable trends were:
- Sexual crimes went from 13 to eight, a drop of 62 per cent.
- Assaults rose from 71 to 86, an increase of 21 per cent.
- Harassments and threats went up from 79 to 98, a rise of 24 per cent.
- Disturbing the peace rose from 38 to 44, an increase of 16 per cent.
- Motor vehicle thefts went from nine to four, a drop of 56 per cent.
- Thefts over $5,000 dropped from 19 to seven, a decrease of 63 per cent.
- Possession of stolen property calls stayed exactly the same, seven in both years.
- Mischief to property decreased from 150 to 128, a decrease of 15 per cent.
- Break and enter calls went up from 20 to 23, an increase of 15 per cent.
Friesen broke down the break-and-enter results even further, indicating that break-ins to residences dropped from 12 calls to nine. However, break-ins to out buildings skyrocketed from six to 11, and break-ins to businesses went up from two to three.
“Around here, it’s usually someone you know,” added Friesen, describing the majority of break-ins.
In terms of sharing information with the public, Friesen said probably their most valuable outlet is the weekly RCMP Report in the two local newspapers within the detachment area, the Preeceville Progress and the Canora Courier. He shared numerous examples of calls found in past reports, many of them humourous, including one of his favourites, “A male had passed a marked Highway Patrol vehicle and was subsequently pulled over by the Highway Patrol officer for speeding. The male became upset and called 911 to report the officer for pulling him over.”
Each year, Friesen creates a Canora/Sturgis RCMP Detachment Action Plan. For 2023/24, that plan includes:
Drugs
- Target prolific offenders involved in the drug trade;
- Liaise with Yorkton Saskatchewan Trafficking Response Team (STRT);
- Increased visibility (targeted patrols);
- Proactive vehicle stops to gather intel and curb drug related impaired driving; and
- Information gathering from the public (“you know more than you think,” the presentation said).
Friesen added that one of the most dangerous recreational drugs on the market right now is methamphetamine:
- Also called Meth or Crystal Meth, it is a psycho-stimulant synthetic drug which affects the central nervous system.
- Methamphetamine is chemically similar to the drug known as Amphetamine, which is used to treat ADHD, obesity and sleeping disorder. But being more potent and highly addictive, methamphetamine is rarely prescribed for medical treatment.
- More often than not the drug is manufactured illegally from pseudoephedrine, the ingredient found in cold medicines.
- Methamphetamine is produced in illegal laboratories across the world.
- The drug is often mixed with ingredients from batteries, cleaning fluids and anti-freeze.
- Crime analysis indicate that the purity of methamphetamine is dangerously high, while street level prices are at an all time low, causing accessibility and availability to increase.
Traffic
- Increased/targeted traffic enforcement;
- Training for new members on radar, FST, and impaired/criminal crash investigations;
- Increased vehicle stops for impaired drivers; and
- Purchasing new equipment (radar, drug testing).
Building Trust: Community engagement and police visibility
- Increased contact with schools and local RMs/towns;
- Attend community events (please call and make us aware of an event in your area);
- Increased patrols;
- Members attending all calls when requested to do so;
- Members to utilize Sturgis Satellite Detachment more often;
- School zone patrols; and
- Involvement with youth and sports.
Challenges we face
- Lack of reporting by citizens and victims, so we don’t get a full picture of what is actually occurring in the area and are unable to deploy our resources effectively;
- Calls are often received by the police hours, or even days, after the incident happened;
- Victims and witnesses unwilling to participate in a criminal investigation and subsequent prosecution of the offenders;
- Property not being secured or locked up, at least 80 per cent of stolen property was not secured by the owners;
- Large patrol area with limited resources;
- Victims often don’t have serial numbers or identifying features to aid investigation;
- Investigations become compromised when evidence not gathered properly, citizens conduct their own investigations;
- Time dealing with non-police related files (dog and animal complaints, civil matters, property disputes, domestic incidents, mental health calls); and
- Time-consuming paper work for every call.
Friesen shared a number of helpful suggestions for residents to protect and defend themselves, and reduce crime at the same time
- Don’t escalate a situation.
- Don’t confront criminals.
- Don’t underestimate criminals.
- Don’t put yourself or others at risk.
- Don’t cause a bigger problem over property.
- Don’t get in more trouble than the original criminal.
- Work together as a community, tackle root causes of crime (drug use, family breakdown, poverty, unemployment).
- Reporting of crime (or lack thereof) affects how police resources are managed and deployed.
Friesen allowed plenty of time for question and observations from the floor, which included:
- A fraud victim spoke up where someone from outside the province wrote cheques on their account. Friesen admitted that “Frauds are nasty to deal with” and it’s often difficult to get co-operation from out-of-province law enforcement agencies.
- Another attendee mentioned, “Just about every time we drive south to Yorkton, there are drivers doing stupid stuff on the highway.” Friesen encouraged everyone to report this kind of behaviour, because, “If it’s reported, we can pass it on to the Yorkton RCMP and they can catch these drivers when they get to Yorkton.”
As was mentioned previously, Canora RCMP Detachment members are looking to attend more community events. One person at the meeting observed, “We’ve never seen police come to our curling rink for the annual Stenen Bonspiel.” Friesen thanked him for making the RCMP aware of this popular community event, and encouraged more residents to do the same.
