Cochrane RCMP Inspector Lauren Weare has appealed to council to boost the town’s annual funding to accommodate a five-member crime reduction unit.
The plan would have a crime intelligence analyst – a municipal position Weare is hoping to recruit – lead a team of four regular RCMP members in order to effectively implement a crime reduction strategy.
“Policing has become more complex … we need a crime analyst here for sure,” she explained following her 2016 annual report delivery at June 26 council, which indicated property crimes are down, while fraud and assault are on the rise.
Weare explained the crime reduction strategy is “an offender-focused policing strategy, which targets offenders who commit a disproportionate amount of crime.”
According to Weare 80 per cent of crime can be attributed to 20 per cent of criminals and this principle has revolutionized policing.
This model, through specialized teams and strong partnerships, has “proven results in significantly reducing crime.”
The team would work “to identify emergent crime trends and targets we need to focus on specifically.”
She said a dedicated team that wouldn’t have to deal with a ringing phone could better implement long-term planning.
Weare said when there is a vacancy in the detachment it takes a long time to replace positions – up to months. She is mandated to not go over her town budget for 20 officers, even though vacancy delays usually result in fewer officers. If the annual resource level were approved for 22 positions, this would allow the detachment to fill positions “more aggressively within the allotted budget.”
The detachment has been experiencing increasing human resource gaps with support staff levels and she commended the town for its recent approval of a seventh support staff member – namely to deal with the daily influx of criminal record checks.
Each year, the detachment handles more than 3,000 criminal record checks; each check is estimated at 45 minutes of administrative time.
Coun. Mary Lou Eckmeier commented on the huge volume of checks done each year and Weare explained that vulnerable sector checks – including sports organizations and schools – are usually conducted annually.
“That’s ultimately the liability of today’s world,” said Weare.
Coun. Morgan Nagel emphasized, “Nothing is more important than keeping residents safe.” All other councillors were in agreement.
Total service calls to the detachment for 2016 were 18,702; of these calls, 7,911 were within the Town of Cochrane – a “slight increase” of 83 calls from the previous year.
For the detailed report visit cochrane.ca.
Weare commended the hard work of Cochrane and Area Victim Services and Cochrane Citizens on Patrol for their ongoing assistance in crime reduction and victim support.
She meets with town administration monthly and any formal increases for human resources would come forward through the annual budget process.
