Mental health and domestic violence calls, the new protective services building, and Stoney Nakoda First Nation response were just a few of the topics on the agenda at Cochrane RCMP’s April 27 town hall meeting at the RancheHouse.
Though there were few residents in attendance, community policing discussions lasted about an hour and a half.
“I’m grateful anytime that we can get together and hear from people about the direction they want to see this detachment go and provide some input,” said detachment commander inspector Dave Brunner, who was accompanied by Sgt. Jeff McIntosh, Staff Sgt. Chad Fournier, and office manager Bethany Hoskin on the panel.
Before opening the floor to feedback from residents, Brunner gave an update on some of the policing trends that Cochrane RCMP observed in 2021.
From Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021, RCMP responded to 6,924 service calls in Cochrane. This year, they have responded to 1,797 calls to date, up until April 26.
“Three of our top calls for service are still very much traffic-related,” said Brunner. “We’ve seen that ramping up a little more with the construction that we have and just the congestion.”
One area local police officers have seen a substantial increase is in the number of domestic violence and mental health calls. Brunner said calls have increased roughly 30 per cent in the last two and a half years.
“Which is significant,” he said, adding the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment and inflation are all contributing factors that likely play into the call spike.
Cochrane RCMP recently introduced a Regional Police and Crisis Teams (RPACT) unit to assist with these files. The crisis team consists of an RCMP officer and a trained mental health nurse, who will follow up and assist RCMP members who respond to mental health calls.
The detachment also welcomed a member of the Integrated Threat and Risk Assessment Centre (ITRAC). The agency works to assess threats and develop risk reduction plans for domestic violence and stalking cases in Alberta, while at the same time providing expert advice and training to police.
Another significant development RCMP made was opening a satellite detachment in Stoney Nakoda First Nation in January of 2021.
“There’s 6,000 people on the Stoney Nakoda Nation,” said Brunner. “And the model that we were utilizing was that there was no set detachment in Stoney Nakoda and police were constantly traveling out there to police the Nation — this just wasn’t a good model.”
In addition to drastically improved response times, RCMP found crime stats there were previously under-reported. With a heightened RCMP presence on the Nation, crime stats are going up, he said.
Once the new Cochrane Protective Services Building opens, Fournier said they expect response times will improve around the region even more, with better access to highway networks.
“We won’t have to go with lights and sirens through a school zone just to get from our building onto a main road,” he said. “We’ll have [better] access to our boats and our quads if somebody’s in trouble on the river or Ghost Lake — we can hook up our boat and just get there instead of having to go and get it.”
The new building will also provide ample space for many of the special teams now working out of the detachment, room to conduct complex investigations, and space for file storage. It will also have a spacious, welcoming front counter unlike the current building’s “sardine can” entrance, as Brunner described it.
The building will allow for space to conduct public forums and will build on engagement opportunities with area residents, Brunner added.
