Several organizations are working to tackle rural crime in Saskatchewan. (SARM)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Neighbourhood vigilance

Rural Crime Watch aims for safer Saskatchewan communities

Nov 22, 2021 | 3:35 PM

Rural municipalities across the province are taking collective action to address crime.

Earlier this fall, the Saskatchewan Rural Crime Watch Association elected its first Board of Directors. In a media release from the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), an outline of program participation was given for volunteers. The community-led and police supported program is an initiative that is designed to get active support from community members. SARM, SUMA, the RCMP and the Ministry of Corrections and Policing are all involved, in addition to Crime Watch members.

“By reporting suspicious activity immediately to the RCMP or 911, volunteers become the extra eyes and ears for local police when they may not be in their area,” SARM President Ray Orb said in the release.

Orb added the initiative is already proving to be successful.

“Statistics show that areas with organized crime watch programs tend to have a significant reduction in criminal activity, including theft of equipment and grain, vandalism, dumping of garbage, break-and-enters, and cattle rustling,” he said.

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Sgt. Neil Tremblay of North Battleford said the move is well received by officers, as it’s not dissimilar to a program the detachment is involved within North Battleford.

“We work with [residents] pretty closely to keep them in the know for trends,” he said. “It’s just additional eyes keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, so it can be quite beneficial.”

Speaking on how this impacts RCMP operations, Tremblay said not only can this help prevent crimes, it could also reduce the number of instances where a civilian is in a bad situation with someone committing a crime on their property.

“The message has been created as a quicker line of communication between the people on the committee and the members working, so they can get quicker response to suspicious behaviour,” he said.

To participate, Rural Crime Watch volunteers will have to complete security checks with their local RCMP, in order to then observe, record, and immediately report all unusual or suspicious vehicles or occurrences to their local RCMP detachment, or 911 in the case of emergencies. In return, the RCMP informs the group when there is criminal activity in the area.

Dan Bartko, Reeve of the Rural Municipality of North Battleford, said they’ve already started up their crime watch, adding that becoming a volunteer is a bit of a process. However, he said it’s worth it to have that done, instead of having people remain vigilant watching their own areas, and believes having a rural crime watch locally does a lot of good.

“Just alerting our ratepayers to things going on the RM is important,” he said. “Anytime you have large organizations like SARM and SUMA working closely together is a good thing.”

Moving forward, Bartko added that they’re looking at other options to improve community safety. One of those possibilities is getting a community safety officer (CSO).

“The rural crime watch and a CSO would go a long ways in bringing some comfort to our ratepayers,” he said.

Tyler Mann, Reeve for the RM of Parkdale, said having a crime watch is a must, particularly in their community.

“There’s lots of crime in this area all the time, there’s things like cars being broken into,” he said. “It’s a big thing for us.”

Several areas in the northwest have experienced an increase in petty crimes, such as breaking and entering, in both rural and suburban neghbourhoods. Mann said in Parkdale these incidents ebb and flow, which has caused several residents to already be proactive.

“Our area goes in spurts,” he said. “A bunch of us younger people with families are trying to do our part, notifying everyone if something is going on.”

“All of us sticking together to protect our properties is a very good thing. It would be nice if we had police around every corner, but it doesn’t work like that.”

The inaugural Board of Directors meeting is being planned for the near future where a president and vice-president will be elected.

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