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Press ‘Tis the Season!
Volume 115, Issue 22
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
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Revolving-Door Justice System? Frustrations aired at RCMP Open House in Forestburg Leslie Cholowsky Editor
Over 150 Forestburg and area residents attended an Open House at the Forestburg Community Hall, presented by Village Council, with invited guests the Killam RCMP and Noreen Metz, Program Director for Flagstaff Victim Services. It became clear over the course of the evening that Forestburg residents are feeling very let down by the justice system, and are reaching the breaking point because of repeat offenders who continue to reoffend, victimizing, and taunting residents. Sgt. Colin Thorne NCO of the Killam Detachment, along with Staff Sgt. David Graham, took the brunt of the questions, and the criticism, over the course of the evening. Mayor Blaise Young introduced Metz first, who said she’s been in her present role for the past nine years. “We work with victims of crime and tragedy. We are mandated to provide three things: support, information, and referral. “We’re a very busy Detachment,” Metz said that at one time she was told that the Killam Detachment area ranked number one in all of Alberta for domestic disputes. “We ranked number one. We’re busy. So I think that is scary; it’s sad, and we need to do better.” She added, “I have witnessed our members sit with children whose parents have just passed. I’ve witnessed our members sit on the side of highways with families. I’ve witnessed them sit with someone who has suffered sexual assault, theft, and many other instances, where it gives me a great sense of pride to stand up here and stand beside them.” The first audience member started the conversation with a comment that would be repeated throughout the evening. He said, “It’s a good community. But there’s so much theft. And it’s the same people, over and over. Members come over there and there’s nothing done; no result. The next day they are stealing from someone else.” Thorne tried to describe the process of initiating an arrest. “Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you have your garage broken into and someone steals your chainsaw. So what we need in order to do anything about that is a suspect. And not just a suspect, we need someone who may have seen him or her do that; evidence to support this person doing that. Anything that will give us reasonable and probable grounds so that we can actually arrest them and have them charged. “Without that, we can’t just go arrest someone willynilly.” A new speaker related an instance from a few weeks ago where he said a gentleman on a stolen quad was arrested, then released the same evening. “Nothing was done. He went to Killam, and he got to come right back home.” Thorne said, “If he was dealt with through the RCMP, we arrested and charged him, but we have no
Staff Sgt David Graham and Sgt. Colin Thorne faced a frustrated group of Forestburg residents during an open house held Wednesday, Nov. 23. control over what happens in the Justice system.” Thorne said, “Process is, we have evidence to arrest someone and charge them, we arrest them, and more often than not, we hold them for a bail hearing, or a judicial interim hearing, as it is called. That is where they are put before a judge, or a J. I. R., and that person, a representative of the judicial system of Alberta, makes a decision whether a) they get remanded, or b) they get released on some form of a recognizance or release order.” “Why do they get released so easy?” asked the resident. “I can’t answer that question,” Thorne responded. “It sounds to me like that complaint you have is with the judicial process in the Province of Alberta. The RCMP would have handled that and done everything within our power to bring it to the judicial system. “Once it gets there, we have no say in what happens.” “They get caught, and they are in and they’re out,” the speaker said. “If there were two of you, and one took the criminal to Killam, and the other stayed to take statements, he’d be back here before you even made it to Killam. And he’s back in our yards, back in our equipment.” He brought up a complaint that the constant petty crime was making people think twice before using their insurance coverages, in fear of losing their policies due to too many claims. “we are losing $4,000 to $5,000 worth of fuel, parts, and that stuff; and we don’t go to our insurance, because we don’t want to get dropped.” S/Sgt. Graham added, “It’s not lost on us that we are arresting the same people constantly in the same communities, and that can be frustrating as well for us, but that’s the system we have.” Residents asked the RCMP members if having an addiction problem meant they were treated more leniently than a regular person. Thorne responded, “We would handle everyone exactly the same; whether or not they’re involved in
crime in the past or not. “I just want to reiterate, in those cases, we do our job. We get them to where they need to go, but we have no say in what happens to them after that, unless they reoffend. Then we will arrest them, charge them again, and have a hearing to see if they get remanded or released again.” Some residents had recently attempted a citizen’s arrest, and were told by a responding officer, they said, that it put them in danger of arrest. The speaker continued, “In this particular incident, when the arresting officer arrived, he told the guys there, that made a citizen’s arrest, that they could be charged for unlawful confinement. “We are getting so many mixed messages from you guys, that we don’t know where the hell we’re at or what we should do. That’s the problem. One officer tells us one thing; another officer tells us something else. Thorne said, “What I recommend, and I do recommend is don’t take matters into your own hands, then you’re putting yourself into a situation.” “We had six incidents within a week and absolutely nothing was done,” the speaker responded. “How long do you think the local people are going to let that go? Do your job.” “All I can tell you,” Thorne reiterated, “is that if you take matters into your own hands, you put yourself into a position where a) you get injured or hurt, or b) you could end up committing an offense yourself. And if you commit an offense yourself you may find yourself in hotter water than the person you caught stealing.” The speaker said that due to there being no consequences to the individuals being arrested, he said they were starting to intimidate people. “If they are intimidating you then you come speak to us; you give us a statement and evidence...” “We tried that one time and no one took our See FRUSTRATION P9