By Sarah Rae

Work shortage cause of decreased police communications in N.B.

Jul 25, 2016 | 7:00 PM

After a period of releasing daily reports outlining police activity, RCMP communications have slowed down in the city.

The daily reports were initiated when the detachment had a different structure, according to Insp. John Sutherland of the North Battleford RCMP. Now, the member who would be in charge of those reports is on leave and Sutherland said the unit doesn’t have the capacity to backfill positions.

He said he’s looking at realigning some positions, but moving a member into an administrative position to handle communications would take them out of a general duty role. He said he thinks the community wants to hear more from police and is trying to find a solution.

“The public has the right to know and should know what’s happening with policing and what’s going on in their community, and what police are doing to respond to issues,” he said. “We always try and find the balance and the responsible reporting, to make sure that people do know what’s going on and yet not make it seem like the town is ridden with crime.”

Guy Turcotte, who started a Facebook group in 2009 to bring attention to crime in North Battleford, said he understands the detachment is understaffed, but it’s important for people to know what’s going on.

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He said the community doesn’t need to know about every single call the police respond to, but the significant incidents need to be reported. He said without police telling the community what’s happening, people speculate and start rumours.

Since starting the Facebook group, Turcotte said he’s been criticised for encouraging a bad light on the city. He said what really gives the city a black eye is the crime rate, which has been high in North Battleford for many years.

He said his group encourages sharing information to keep the community safe, because people might look out for one another if they know what’s going on in the city. He said information shared in the group, which he often takes to the RCMP, has even led to arrests.

“If there’s certain things happening in town in certain areas, people might be a little more vigilant,” he said. “If the crimes are being reported maybe they feel the RCMP and the city are listening a little better, it’s more of a comfort.”

If the community is more informed, Turcotte said citizens are better able to keep an eye out for each other and report anything suspicious.

He said people complaining on social media isn’t enough to make the city safer though. He wants to see people actually reporting incidents and taking action by talking to the RCMP and the city about the issues here.

Bill Landrie helps run another Facebook group about crime in North Battleford and said the RCMP should somehow find a balance between reporting every single call and not sharing anything.

“It really affects the city’s image when they release all of the petty stuff and I mean that’s in every city and it does cause a bit of a panic,” Landrie said. “I believe they should do more of the vandalism and that sort of thing to bring it out and make people more aware to start watching for themselves and watching other people’s stuff.”

Sarah Rae is battlefordsNOW’s court and crime reporter. She can be reached at Sarah.Rae@jpbg.ca or tweet her @sarahjeanrae.