DIDSBURY - Working closely with the public and the business community will be a priority for RCMP officers in the local detachment area in the coming months, according to Sgt. Jamie Day, the new acting commanding officer of Didsbury RCMP.
Appearing as a delegation before town council during the regularly-scheduled April 8 council meeting, Day outlined recent crime statistics in the detachment area and discussed how police plan to work with the community-at-large going forward.
“I’ve very big on community engagement,” said Day. “Going to community events, doing walks downtown, meeting people who own businesses in your community and speaking with them about crime prevention.
“We are going to try to bring your community together with your policing because I think it should be hand-in-hand, and I think your police officers should be part of your community.
“Yes, we are busy, but we will always find ways to connect with the community. I’m always looking for ideas. I’m always looking to find ways to integrate within the community. It is so important.”
Recently taking over from Staff Sgt. Stephen Browne as detachment commander for the next several months, Day told council he has recently reviewed crime statistics from across the detachment.
“What I’m seeing is a common trend within region,” he said. “Crime across the board is trending down. Persons crimes are going down and property crimes are going down. To give you an idea, through last year you decreased property crime property crime almost 20 per cent in your area, which is a big decrease.”
Regarding prolific offenders, he said, “We want to see obviously the justice system do a little bit more and have prolific offenders stay a bit longer in custody. We are hoping that is going to change.
“What we would like to see is obviously that they spend a little more time in custody rather than being released all the time. It’s catch and release, which can be very challenging.
“It does impact the members because they are doing good work and the person is being released back into society and they are playing chase all over again. It’s not to the point that the member just gives up; they are still proactively chasing those people on a regular basis.”
He noted that assaults in the town of Didsbury part of the detachment increased from 38 in 2023 to 41 in 2024. Overall there were 100 persons crimes in 2024, down from 107 in 2023.
There were 112 property crimes last year, down from 165 in 2023. Thefts under $5,000 fell from 35 in 2023 to 25 in 2024.
“Everything I can see in your stats is trending down and I think your community is doing very well and I think the policing is going very, very well,” he said.
There are three specific things he would like to see for the community going forward: crime prevention, road safety, and community engagement.
As for the type of criminals being seen in town, he said, “Most of the crime that are happening in our community is not by people who live here. I’m not saying you don’t have problem people who live here, we all have problem people in places that we live, but I’m going to say the majority of the crime is people coming through.”
Police continue to see impaired driving in the region, he said.
“We are hoping to see that trend down, but for whatever reason it’s been around forever and it’s one of those things that is hard to get away from,” he said.
Checkstops, bar checks and increased police visibility will be part of efforts to address impaired driving going forward, he said.
Many mental health calls continue to be seen in the district, he said.
“Your detachment, like most detachments, has seen a massive increase in mental health (calls) over the last couple of years,” he said.
There were 55 mental health calls in 2023, followed by 64 in 2024.
Day told council that body-worn cameras are now being used by RCMP officers across the detachment.
“We are carrying these cameras at all times,” he said.
Council carried a motion setting the policing priorities the town would like to see officers focus on in 2025-26: crime prevention, road safety and community engagement. The priorities are not in any particular order.
Council also set the Town of Didsbury Municipal Enforcement priorities for 2025-26: bylaw enforcement; traffic enforcement; and community engagement with the Town of Didsbury.
