Members of the Innisfail RCMP are extending its reach into new areas of Red Deer County this summer with the addition of two quads to its enforcement team.
Call it the Quad Squad.
As early as July, campers, hikers, and anyone operating off-road vehicles around Glennifer Lake may notice the occasional presence of two RCMP quads patrolling the pathways.
The quads will allow the RCMP to patrol more of the high traffic summer areas then they would in just their vehicles.
“We wanted to have more visibility in the rural areas by the lakes and resorts,” said S. Sgt. Lyle Marianchuk, from the Innisfail RCMP.
“The quads will allow us to get into places that we can’t reach by car.”
The quads will help the RCMP to monitor other quad activity they are aware that occurs around the lakes, said Marianchuk.
“We want to make sure that people are behaving in these areas.”
Members of the Innisfail detachment found out earlier this year they could get quads. They immediately recognized a need for them put in an application to RCMP headquarters.
“The opportunity was there and so we put a business application forward and were selected,” said Marianchuk.
Although it is not common for an RCMP detachment to have their own quad fleet they are given out if a need is identified in the area.
“They don’t give them out to just any detachment,” said Marianchuk.
“We had to demonstrate that the quads were needed to do our job.”
About half of the members of the Innisfail detachment will be certified to use the quads. They will complete their training out of the Sylvan Lake detachment this month.
The quads will be used for both proactive patrols within the county as well as enforcement patrols when needed. Plans for inter-agency patrols with the Red Deer County officers are also in the works to increase police presence in the county.
The quads will also be used to assist in emergencies such as searches for lost persons in the county.
“We have had cases where there may have been a missing person in the brush and the quads will help assist in those searches,” said Marianchuk.
In other emergencies, such as floods, the quads can be used to reach residents houses to provide fast warning or assistance where needed.
Currently the Innisfail RCMP also runs a boat patrol in the summer on nearby lakes and the quads will provide an added resource for them to keep residents safe in the summer.
