Richard Froese
South Peace News
The McLennan RCMP detachment was busy getting a handle on overall crime in the Smoky River region in 2022.
Sgt. Allan Paterson says rural crime is a major issue in the region.
“The biggest area of concern for the McLennan RCMP is related to rural thefts of copper wire and fuel from remote and abandoned well sites in the detachment area,” Paterson says.
“This type of crime can have large costs to the victims for a small amount of value in the stolen product.”
Police have taken action to curb the crime.
“The detachment is changing operational plans to cover the remote areas of the detachment, working with supporting units in the RCMP District,” Paterson says.
“We are working with neighbouring detachments to find trends and hot spots of related crimes.”
Police value all partners in strategies to fight crime.
“We are working closely with the RCMP Western Alberta Crime Reduction Unit, increasing our patrols in our our area and seeking assistance from rural landowners to identify suspicious vehicles and activity,” Paterson says.
Police are happy to report that the number of calls of public intoxication is down.
“This may be due to to the decrease in the number of larger public functions that have not returned since COVID-19 restrictions,” Paterson says.
He says citizens have a valuable role to help police and reduce crime.
Smoky River Citizens on Patrol (COP) remains active and is recruiting more volunteers, he says.
Police urge citizens to be vigilant to report crime as soon as possible.
“I would ask that residents continue to call in any suspicious activities or vehicles,” Paterson says.
“A small piece of information could be the missing piece from solving a crime.
“We appreciate the community support in keeping the area safe by reporting suspicious activity to police.”
For information on the COP program, phone (780)-324-3086.
To report criminal or suspicious activity, phone McLennan RCMP at (780)-324-3061 or phone CrimeStoppers at (1-800)-222-TIPS (8477).