STONEY NAKODA— RCMP officers are settling in at their new detachment on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
The new detachment officially opened its doors on Jan. 4, said Cochrane RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff. Savinkoff has been named interim commander of the new detachment.
“I think we’ve already heard some positive feedback, especially from different services like Stoney Nakoda EMS who have seen a drastic increase in our response times,” Savinkoff said. “I think this is what’s right for the community. I think the RCMP, the people that live out here, I think this is what they wanted— This goes a large way to us serving them in a way that we feel meets their needs. I’m really excited to do this.”
The Stoney Nakoda detachment will see a culmination of RCMP members from Kananaskis and Cochrane meld to create a semi-autonomous centre.
Initially, the Stoney Nakoda detachment will have eight regular constables and two Non-Commissioned Officers to run the management side. Savinkoff noted Kananaskis will also be part of the detachment area.
Officers will be working out of the detachment 24-hours a day seven days a week.
Savinkoff said chief concerns he has heard from the community involve RCMP visibility and response times to Stoney Nakoda— The detachment was launched to both encourage community engagement and enforcement.
“All officers that have come out here have all been encouraged to engage in some kind of community type involvement,” Savinkoff said. “It can be as simple as stopping into one of the local stores.”
Like everywhere across the globe the COVID-19 pandemic has been a struggle at the new detachment and officers are working hard to provide the best service possible while staying safe and limiting potential exposures.
It is especially challenging, he added, because officers want more face time in the community, but also do not want to endanger anyone.
“We’re always weighing out what we can do, what is safe,” Savinkoff said.
Officers have settled in nicely at the satellite office and people are already seeing more of an RCMP presence in the community.
“Our increased response time means you’re arriving at the scene in the midst of whatever you’re getting called out to, rather than the follow-up,” Savinkoff said. “Now you're there during the actual incident.”
He added officers feel more effective coming from the new detachment because they can arrive and help with events as they are happening— Rather than dealing with the fallout.
One of the first major changes was seeing how much more visible officers are in the community now that there is a detachment.
“We’re more situated to attend even more minor complaints,” Savinkoff said. “Just having the officers out there ready to go is the biggest effect it can have.”
Additionally, the RCMP are embracing restorative justice and the HUB program that focusses on a different aspect of the community. Under the HUB program officers are able to sit down with offenders and explore different ways to support them to help keep them from going in and out of jail.
The HUB program is designed to help with the sentencing of defenders and management of them when they commit offences— An emphasis is placed on cultural sensitivity.
The program focusses on managing and targeting high-risk offenders who the RCMP can work with in regards to housing, income support and probation. The program allows them to target at-risk community members and work with them to try to understand and address the main issues leading them to commit offences.
“A lot of the times it has to do with supporting them rather than a punitive approach," Savinkoff said.
The RCMP are continuing to work with the Stoney Tribal Administration and Band Chiefs and Councils exploring the development of a new building in the area.
Conversations for a new building have already begun, Savinkoff said, and the new detachment serves as proof RCMP are committed to serving the community.
