COPP helps reunite 99 children during Northwest Territorial Days, eases pressure on Battlefords RCMP

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That memory now gives him a personal connection to COPP’s Child Reunite Program, which helped safely reunite 99 children during this year’s Northwest Territorial Days over three days. 

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COPP helps reunite 99 children during Northwest Territorial Days, eases pressure on Battlefords RCMP

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Twenty-two COPP volunteers contributed 220 hours over the three-day event and handed out 2,250 identification bands aimed at helping separated children reconnect with their families.

Robertson said volunteers worked shifts of roughly three to four hours, covering the fair from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m.

The program also took pressure off police.

Cpl. Steve Bell, who oversees the Battlefords RCMP community policing unit and serves as the liaison with COPP, said volunteers were often able to reunite children before officers needed to become involved.

“It definitely alleviated a lot of pressure off the RCMP,” Bell said. 

Bell said that in years before the program, police would deal with multiple reports involving separated children at the fair. Often, he said, the child had already been found, and the challenge was figuring out who their parents were and how to reach them.

That could be particularly difficult with younger children who did not know their parents’ phone numbers, tying up officers who would otherwise be responding to calls elsewhere in the community.

“So again, that’s just like a huge resource saver for us, having them out there and having them be able to take care of that for us,” Bell said. 

COPP’s involvement also allowed RCMP members assigned to Territorial Days to spend more time on proactive patrols and other activity around the fairgrounds.

Police could still become involved when more effort was needed to locate a parent, but Bell said everyone was reunited by the end of the day this year. 

Robertson believes the work carries a significance beyond the numbers.

“It is very traumatic for any parent.”

Robertson said some reunifications can also be difficult for the volunteers involved, particularly when they take longer than expected. He said COPP intends to continue the program and will review volunteers’ feedback before deciding what changes could be made next year. 

One potential improvement is already being considered.

Bell said RCMP hopes to discuss an idea with COPP that would encourage parents to take a current photo of their child at the fair, potentially in front of a sponsored photo board. The image would capture what the child is wearing that day and could be used if police and volunteers needed to search for the child.

Bell said most cases involve finding the parents of a child who has already come to the COPP tent, but having a current photo could help in situations where the child is the one who needs to be located.

“Just make it easier for us to, if we are having to look for a child,” Bell said.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com