Facts, Views Heard at RCMP Public Meeting

Last week’s public meeting in Outlook hosted by the RCMP shed a light on the concerns of both town and rural residents surrounding crime, but also highlighted the facts stemming from recent crime statistics in the area.

The crowd of roughly 80 people jam-packed the court room of the Outlook town offices building on Thursday night, March 22 for the meeting, which was hosted by Sgt. Mark Langager of the Outlook RCMP, as well as Officer Patrick Zunti, who serves as a District Advisory Non-Commissioned Officer and oversees a number of RCMP detachments for the Central District.

The meeting focused on providing the public with information relating to crime statistics for the Outlook detachment area, as well as highlighting where the RCMP is continuing to focus their strategies and efforts as it relates to crime reduction and visibility in the community.

Outlook’s police detachment currently has eight members that serve a population area of 7,213 people in its jurisdiction, which includes Outlook, Conquest, Milden, Dinsmore, Macrorie, Birsay, Coteau, Hitchcock, Riverhurst, Palliser Park, Central Butte, Tugaske, Elbow, Loreburn, Strongfield and Hawarden.  This equates to 1 officer for every 900 people; a statistic that some may say highlights a need for more police in the area, but paying to train and post more officers comes down to a “cost vs need” scenario.

Sgt. Langager noted during the meeting that property-related calls are “our biggest crime” in the area and it’s a predominant issue, even with a decrease in calls last year compared to 2016; a total of 220 in 2016 and 174 in 2017.

The jurisdictional area with the highest percentage of investigations was the Town of Outlook, leading with 48%, while the RM of Loreburn came in with the second-highest at 14%.

The RCMP’s ‘F’ Division statistics showed that 2017’s crime data showed a decline back to 2011 numbers after there were increases in 2015 and 2016, with 2015 being singled out as a particularly troubling year.

As it relates to efforts in reducing crime and the strategies being implemented, the Outlook detachment has been happy with its progress.  They’ve focused on strong community relations and police visibility, including a high number of school visits to talk with students and form a sense of trust with young people.  As well, traffic safety has been a major priority, and they’ve also increased the number of probation and conditions checks on offenders.  The RCMP’s priorities for 2018 include prolific offender checks, continuing to strengthen community relations and visibility, and maintaining their strong spotlight on traffic safety.

From there, the meeting switched over to the hot topic that has permeated much of the province since the verdict was revealed in the Gerald Stanley trial early last month: rural crime.  While Sgt. Langager noted that “response time is not ideal” as it relates to the RCMP responding to a crime being committed on a farm property, the message that both Langager and Officer Zunti wanted to convey to those in attendance was that people need to ask themselves what is reasonable when it comes to defending yourself, your family or your property if any such incident should occur.

Essentially, both officers told the public that it’s up to them decide if personal protection involves the use of a firearm or any other weapons.

Langager highlighted Section 34 (1) of Canada’s Criminal Code – Defence of Person – that highlights how a person could be found not guilty of an offence under several parameters.

Defence — use or threat of force

34 (1) A person is not guilty of an offence if:

(a) they believe on reasonable grounds that force is being used against them or another person or that a threat of force is being made against them or another person;

(b) the act that constitutes the offence is committed for the purpose of defending or protecting themselves or the other person from that use or threat of force; and

(c) the act committed is reasonable in the circumstances.

As well, several factors would determine if an act committed is deemed reasonable.

Again though, what it came down to was both officers asking the public how far they would be willing to go in a situation even remotely close to what took place involving Gerald Stanley.

“Yes, you have the right to protect yourself, your family and your property, but what’s reasonable?” said Officer Zunti, adding that not every judge or court in the province will share the same views and theories on what’s determined as reasonable.

Zunti also told the audience to perhaps ask themselves, “Is it worth it?” to defending property by way of arming oneself, as people are putting their own lives at risk for what many others would simply label as material goods.

Sgt. Langager echoed Zunti’s remarks and said a helpful tool may be to plan and even visualize how one would react if a home invasion was to take place, as it allows you to know what steps to take instead of following through on a purely gut reaction to such a delicate and potentially-dangerous situation.

Langager also said he hoped that people would take away the facts and numbers provided to them from the meeting, as social media and online chatter in the wake of the Stanley trial has become a hotbed of misguided headlines and biased views.

“I wish we lived in a world where crime didn’t exist, but we don’t, and I would tell people to be wary of where you’re getting your information, as there’s a lot of misinformation out there after our last big trial in the province,” said Langager.

As far as efforts related to further crime reduction, both officers said that the local area may benefit from getting the Rural Crime Watch off the ground again, as well as the Citizens on Patrol program.  Of course, what also makes a difference in helping the RCMP do their jobs is calling and reporting crime when you see it or when you believe you have information that would be helpful.

“Not reporting crime doesn’t reduce crime, it only reduces the stats,” said Zunti, encouraging people to call in and be the RCMP’s ‘eyes and ears’.

Questions from the audience touched on a few different topics.  One person asked about the bylaws related to marijuana use in communities, but the officers noted that no laws had been made yet as it’s still in the legalization stage.  On the same topic, someone asked which type of impairment is worse for those behind the wheel as it related to alcohol or marijuana, and Zunti replied that “impairment is impairment” no matter what the cause is, and he added that people using their phones to text while driving has become a major problem.

One farmer who’s been a victim of major theft said he’s reaching a point where he may look at taking matters into his own hands.

A question about making a citizen’s arrest had the officers going back to the question of what’s reasonable in utilizing X amount of force.

One woman who works for Statistics Canada broke down in tears as she asked about her rights to do her job duties, which include visiting homes and farm properties to conduct surveys.  She said that she’d been threatened in the past when visiting rural properties and that she has refused work at times, but she would then be punished for it by her superiors.

The roughly 90-minute meeting served as an informative event that the RCMP hope helped educate the public on where things stand as far as crime numbers in the Outlook and surrounding detachment area and where police are focusing their continued efforts.  Those in attendance were encouraged to stay for a coffee and speak to the officers about any further questions or comments that they had.