INNISFAIL - The town is applying for a provincial grant to pay for a regional RCMP school resource officer that will not only provide skilled service and mentorship for local students but also for those in Penhold and Red Deer County.
The application to obtain a two-year $200,000 provincial Civil Forfeiture Grant (CFG) was approved by town council at its regular Sept. 24 meeting. It was also made on behalf of the Town of Penhold, Red Deer County and the Chinook's Edge School Division.
The CFG is offered through Crime Prevention and Restorative Justice for comprehensive crime prevention projects, with one priority group being youths and families with complex social issues. The deadline for the grant application is Oct. 12.
Currently the Town of Innisfail pays for one municipal RCMP officer who is dedicated to be Innisfail's exclusive school resource officer (SRO) in local public schools but he or she is often pulled out of SRO duties to deal with other RCMP duties based on priority and urgency, council was told.
Todd Becker, the town's chief administrative officer, told council more work is needed to determine what the new program would look like, how the partnership will be funded and how a new regional SRO's time would be split between the partnering communities.
Innisfail RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Matechuk said the local detachment has been working with the other partners on the enhanced police officer initiative for "quite some time" and there is unanimous support.
"We want to enhance the program and expand it to make the service even stronger, and provide that service to Spruce View and Penhold," said Matechuk. "It would mean positive interactions with the youth, engaging them at a young age."
As for hiring a new police officer for the new regional position, Matechuk said the current Innisfail SRO, Const. Craig Nelson, is the "obvious choice."
"And he's doing a great job, and he would be our obvious choice," said Matechuk, noting his current position would have to be "backfilled" with another officer. "I really support him in continuing in that role."
Penhold mayor Mike Yargeau said having a designated RCMP school resource officer is "very Important" for his community, adding that when it's finally time to decide how much time the new SRO will spend in each partnering municipality the school-age populations in each will have to be looked at.
"We've never had one but we've always been prepared and wanted one," said Yargeau, adding that when Penhold Crossing Secondary School was opened in 2014 it already had an office created for an RCMP school resource officer. "It's a proven fact that the more interaction the RCMP and enforcement officers can have with children at a school-age level the more it helps them as they get older."
However, if the CFG application is successful the funding stops after two years, and if all parties want to continue with the regional SRO then a new way to pay for it must be found.
"Regardless of the grant there will be discussions of the viability of the SRO program," said Becker. "The town is funding it anyways, but ideally we want partners."
Romane said he's optimistic all partners will be "very, very gratified" with the future results of the regional SRO program but concedes it will take "some imagination" by all partners to find a mutually agreeable funding solution to continue it.
"For the time being it is an excellent opportunity to have as a pilot project for a regional situation," said Romane. "We just have to work out all the details on it. If it helps the whole area I am totally in favour. If it helps reduce crime in the region then Innisfail is going to benefit."
