Although the Town of Carstairs has resorted to buying a house in order to bring two RCMP officers to the area to bolster sagging police numbers in Didsbury, the commanders of the Olds and Didsbury RCMP detachments say they are having no trouble maintaining constant police coverage of their communities.
Staff Sgt. Joe Sangster, commander of the Olds detachment, said while his detachment is at full strength and capable of providing round-the-clock police service, there are a number of members on the verge of transferring out of the area.
But anyone who is leaving is being replaced.
“We're in good shape,” he said, adding some members are waiting for replacements to arrive and some are waiting for their homes to sell.
“There's always challenges with regards to manpower. People are going and while they're being transferred out, it may be a little slow in somebody else's household. But there will be no gaps. We'll be taking care of business.”
Full strength for the Olds detachment is 11 constables, two corporals and one staff sergeant.
Sgt. Jeff Jacobson, commander of the Didsbury RCMP detachment, would not provide numbers on what constitutes a full roster of officers at his station but said there are enough police to service the Didsbury community.
“We continue to maintain efficient and effective police service,” he said.
But Carstairs mayor Lance Colby confirmed the Town of Carstairs has borrowed money to buy a home owned by two RCMP officers living in Cardston, a town roughly 80 kilometres southwest of Lethbridge, who are transferring into the Olds and Didsbury detachments.
He said staffing issues at the Didsbury detachment are putting pressure on an “enhanced” police officer dedicated to Carstairs and when Carstairs council approached the RCMP about why it was taking so long for the officers from Cardston to transfer to this area, it was told the couple was having trouble selling their home.
In order to deal with police staffing issues in Didsbury and thereby reduce pressure on the Carstairs enhanced officer, which the town agreed to pay for last year at an annual cost of $130,000 and who is based out of the Didsbury detachment, council voted 6-1 on Aug. 26 to approve a bylaw that will allow the town to borrow $230,000 from ATB Financial to purchase the Cardston couple's home.
Sangster said it is the “norm” for RCMP officers to sell the home in their current community before carrying out a transfer to a new community.
Carl McDonnell, the Town of Carstairs' chief administrative officer, said the final purchase price for the home was $220,000 and the town is now selling the house for $235,000.
The town will only pay interest on the loan until the principal is recovered once the house in Cardston is sold.
“It should be cost-neutral for us,” McDonnell said.
Because the term of the loan is five years, the town did not have to publicly advertise that it was borrowing such a high sum of money, he added.
Colby said “there is no precedent” for a community buying a home belonging to police in another town in order to expedite the arrival of officers transferring to that community.
He added, however, that the town made the decision to buy the house in the interest of safety in the community.
“In our view, it's a means to solve a problem that could affect our town. That's the same reason we purchased the enhanced officer because we don't want our place to suffer because of something that could be very minor and very low in cost.”
Now that the town's purchase offer is approved, the officers would arrive in this area within 30 days, Colby said.
The husband is slated to go to Didsbury and the wife will go to Olds.
Sangster said the Olds, Didsbury and Sundre RCMP detachments are frequently rotating members among those communities to cover any shifts that may be open.
And although he added Didsbury is having some challenges covering shifts, staffing issues in that community are not putting any pressure on the Olds detachment.
“Right now, there's no burden on my detachment to cover off for Didsbury,” he said. “They're doing their thing.”
Members will generally stay in one community between three and five years, Sangster said.
It is common, he added, for officers to move on between four-and-a-half and five years and many members at the Olds detachment are coming up to that time.
“For me, being the manager, it's a little bit of a challenge to juggle things to make sure that service is still provided,” Sangster said. “But it will be provided. And if I have to get in a police car and go take calls, I will do that.”
Jacobson would not comment on any staffing issues at his detachment.
Last year, however, he told Carstairs council the detachment had a complement of 11 members including the enhanced officer.
With a file from Kevin Vink
