A former mayor of Waiparous was the victim of a break and enter confrontation over the weekend, an event which he said highlights the often slow RCMP response time for rural residents.
At around 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Larry Anderson said he woke up to use the washroom when his security camera – linked to his smart phone – pinged.
“I got up and looked at my camera more closely and seen a vehicle in my driveway with two people in there,” Anderson said, noting he was alone in his home.
He said he continued to watch the suspects as they left their vehicle and returned a few minutes later.
As Anderson got dressed, his camera pinged again and he saw the suspects pull out of the driveway only to back in and then head towards his garage door.
“That’s when I come out of the house and that’s when he nailed me with pepper spray in the face so I retreated and spoke with RCMP and the vehicle got away.”
Anderson said the suspects did manage to break into another’s house on the same street.
According to Anderson, the police response time was about two hours, starting from the time he called 911 at 3:24 a.m. according to his phone log.
“They put me through to the RCMP dispatch and lo and behold I get put on hold and the message was please stay on the line as all our operators are busy,” he said.
Anderson said his call history showed after his initial call he hung up and tried again at 3:28 a.m. The RCMP did not call him back until 3:37 a.m. followed by another call at 4:16 a.m. and again at 4:40 a.m., when the officer told him RCMP was en route.
Anderson estimates the RCMP arrived at around 5:10 a.m. - almost two hours after the initial incident.
“It’s disheartening you could say, disturbing,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the need for residents to be on alert for neighbours - such as a rural crime watch - is vital in a community like his.
“Everybody needs to watch out for everybody,” Anderson said. “They tell you not to take matters in your own hands but when you’re being assaulted and (you have) property damage or property stolen it’s kind of tough for someone to sit back and watch it.”
“The neighbours there now, when strange vehicles pulls in, doesnt matter what time day or night somebody always goes out and has a look to see whose in there, whats going,” Anderson said.
Cst. Kary Moore with the RCMP said she could not comment on the response times.
“The Cochrane RCMP does not collect stats on response times. Response times can vary significantly from call to call depending on numerous different variables, for example driving time from wherever the responding member is in the detachment area, to number of calls that members are responding to in that moment, seriousness of calls etc.,” Moore said.
“I will not be commenting on the response time to this complaint specifically.”
This occurrence is actively being investigated Moore confirmed.
A concerned resident who asked not to be named told the Cochrane Eagle they anticipate the investigation will be slow going.
“No wonder we are arming ourselves in rural Alberta,” the source, who wished to stay anonymous, said. “No police here this morning, no police inquiries ... that’s what (we) expect for our usual response.”
Armed confrontations in rural areas between residents and trespassers have made the news of late following the shooting death of Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan and charges laid against Edouard Maurice, an Okotoks area man, who wounded a trespasser on his property back in February.
