SUNDRE – Crime overall was down in the Sundre RCMP detachment’s first quarter this year compared with the same period of time in 2023.
Cpl. Courtney Harding, acting commander of the Sundre RCMP department, presented a breakdown of statistics on Sept. 30 during a regular meeting of council following an update on the roll-out of body-worn cameras.
The report outlined the detachment’s stats from April to June 2024 and how they stacked up against last year’s numbers.
In 2024, there were 47 recorded persons crimes, down from 57 last year. Additionally, numbers from this past spring counted 186 total Criminal Codes, also a decrease from 207 in 2023. There throughout that quarter in 2024 were no drug offences recorded, whereas there had been eight last year.
And while motor vehicle collisions in both of the 2023 and 2024 quarters had a reported number of 56, total traffic offences were down at 134 from 143 last year.
The only category that recorded an increase was property crime, with 111 files this past quarter compared with 102 during the same period last year. Harding largely attributed that increase to copper wire thefts from oil and gas lease sites.
The corporal, a member of the Olds detachment who in May assumed her duties as acting commander just prior to the Sundre detachment's former commander Sgt. Randy Poon’s transfer to Edmonton, told council an average of three investigations a month was not overwhelming but nevertheless noticeable.
“Everything else is actually down,” she said, adding the detachment otherwise had a good first quarter this year.
Harding pointed out that traffic and speeding also remains an area of concern, with 63 speeding and moving violation investigations conducted by members this year during the first quarter, of which 25 resulted in warnings or education with another 11 leading to charges under Traffic Safety Act.
“It continues to be something that we’re working on,” she told council.
Additionally, she noted 41 mental health complaints were received, with the Regional Police and Crisis Teams (RPACT) out of either Rocky Mountain House or Cochrane providing assistance in 10 of those files.
“Having that expertise of a psychiatric nurse on scene to help us assess patients has proven to be absolutely invaluable, especially for us out here in Sundre because of the proximity to a mental health facility that we can transport our clients to,” she said.
“Typically, we have to go to Calgary or Red Deer, which means it’s taking our RCMP officer out of Sundre to go do that transport of a client to a hospital for that assessment.”
Harding also outlined the detachment’s priorities as identified by both the municipality as well as the province, starting with police and community relations. There throughout the first quarter were a total of 20 engagements including meetings with organizations as well as town halls and even school presentations.
Crime reduction is the second priority with a focus on initiatives to target prolific offenders through collaborative efforts with units based out of Airdrie and members from neighbouring detachments.
“We were quite busy with that in the spring, and I’m happy to report we’ve had positive results,” she said.
Mental health and substance abuse as well as traffic enforcement are the third and fourth priorities respectively.
Council also heard the local detachment has eight established positions, with six members currently working and another two on special leave – namely a sergeant and corporal, which is why Harding was assigned from Olds. Additionally, the detachment has two support positions.
“There are no hard vacancies at this time,” she said. “Hard vacancies reflect positions that do not have an employee attached and need to be filled.”
Since starting this past May, Harding said she’s enjoyed her time in Sundre and considers herself fortunate for the opportunity to serve the community.
Following the presentation, Coun. Owen Petersen inquired as to why the corporal felt the local detachment has generally managed to maintain staffing.
“We were told recently at our (Alberta Municipalities) convention by one of our provincial ministers that we are hundreds of RCMP short in Alberta,” said Petersen.
“Are we, and Sundre, just very lucky in that we’re in a good position that we don’t have vacancies?”
The corporal said she had seen the RCMP’s response to claims there are some 500 vacant positions in Alberta.
“My understanding is it’s much lower than that,” said Harding. “But we are very fortunate here at the town of Sundre; it is a beautiful spot to work. I know that all the RCMP members who work here, love to work here.”
Speaking from her own personal perspective as someone who grew up not too far away and has spent the last six years working in Olds, she called Sundre “an absolute gem to work” in.
“It’s a beautiful community. Just the natural beauty and wonder out there is second to none,” she said, adding interactions with the public are also generally positive.
“It’s a really pro-police community,” said Harding, adding she does not anticipate having issues with any hard vacancies at the detachment with perhaps the exception to situations such as parental or medical leaves of absence.
“But that’s in any profession and workforce,” she said.
After thanking her for the presentation, council carried a motion accepting the corporal’s report for information.
