Body cams will soon be the norm for RCMP in Bonnyville. Bonnyville Council heard a presentation by Staff Sgt. Sarah Parke about the RCMP’s activities over the last year.
The detachment's been busy over the last year.
“From week to week, the Bonnyville detachment is responsible for investigating anywhere from 150 to a couple of hundred-plus investigations per week,” said Parke.
A breakdown of file types was given beginning with motor vehicle thefts, which as of Nov. 21, were numbered 151. Of note, the RCMP’s fiscal year runs from April to March.
“Thieves remain as motivated as ever, thefts remain a consistent part of police investigations,” said Parke.
RCMP took part in the Operation Cold Start initiative where police checked on unattended and idling vehicles to see if there were keys in them and if they were properly secured. In cases they weren’t, the member would call the registered owner and educate them on preventative steps to keep their vehicle safe.
Bonnyville Mayor Elisa Brosseau commended on the program.
“I really like this operation cold start, I thought that was such a great idea, what a great way to show people, if you leave your car idling with your keys in it and doors unlocked. To have an RCMP officer come and check it and let you know about it, I thought that was brilliant,” she said.
Kudos came not only from the mayor but also from the head of K Division Traffic Services. Bonnyville RCMP were commended on making the most contacts with motorists during this operation.
Other files include 300 thefts under $5,000, 60 business break and enters and 172 mental health files, all up to Nov. 21. There were 45 documented school/youth contacts last fiscal year.
Mental health is an issue RCMP continue to deal with.
“Unfortunately, mental health issues remain a prevalent part of day-to-day policing. While this is an overall societal issue, the RCMP find themselves involved with clients that have a mental health issue,” said Parke. “Either because of their issue, whether it be criminal in nature or because of addiction.”
RCMP have adopted strategies over the past few years. A mental health App known as “Health IM” was developed to assist police officers in the field when dealing with mental health clients in real-time. The App collects real time data as entered by the officer and helps to triage the client to determine whether they should be transported to a designated mental health facility.
The specialized unit is called the Regional Police and Crisis Team (RPACT). The Bonnyville detachment relies on assistance from two RPACT teams, one is stationed out of St. Paul, while the other is out of Cold Lake.
The teams are comprised of one RCMP member and one security-cleared AHS nurse. Their mandate is to assist with calls for dispatch involving mental health clients and can take over the call. They will be the one transporting the client to the nearest designated facility, freeing up the police officer to remain in the area.
“Its been working well, and I know the members appreciate when they are available to sort of hand these off, honestly. The client then gets that added service of the nurse who has access to their records,” said Parke.
Up to Nov. 21, there has been 304 assaults and 60 files of drugs, including possession of, trafficking of and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The General Investigation Section (GIS) has also had a busy year, recently returning to having two of their three positions filled. GIS is comprised of three positions, one corporal NCO and two constables. The new NCO arrived at the end of August after the previous one transferred out this past summer.
“The new NCO arrived at the end of August and he hit the ground running and has adapted well to keeping up with the specialized mandate of the Bonnyville GIS unit,” said Parke.
The unit heavily focuses on drug trafficking as well as the more serious criminal offences such as aggravated assaults, aggravated sexual assults involving adult and child victims, and other persons crimes.
A file was also included from Oct. 18 where a prolific violent offender, who has been on warrant status and at large since Sept. 2024 in relation to another kidnapping with a firearm, was arrested. The Bonnyville GIS unit charged the offender with over 15 offences including, forcible confinement, pointing a firearm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and assault with a weapon. The offender has been remanded into custody and the matter is still under investigation. Additional charges are expected.
Body cams are another key item council learned about at the Nov. 26 meeting. The cameras will be implemented in Bonnyville in January 2025 when officers will receive training and begin wearing them.
There are times when the cameras will not be worn, during strip searches or internal body cavity searches or in areas where there is a high expectation of privacy such as bathrooms, hospital rooms, treatment centres and religious places.
The Bonnyville RCMP detachment is made up of 23 designated positions for police officers with seven support staff, three of whom are public servants and four are municipal employees.
One constable transferred on Nov. 20, while another departs in January 2025, bringing the constable hard-vacancy rate to four. Of the seven support staff positions, there is one hard vacancy in the process of being backfilled.
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