Town Hall Meeting on Crime

Town Hall Meeting on Crime

Arthur Beaudette The Vegreville News Advertiser

On Tuesday November 19, 2019, the Vegreville RCMP hosted an open house at the Vegreville Social Centre to report to the community on the status of policing in the communities our police force is responsible for. The audience was addressed by Terry Hyggen, the Detachment Commander of the Vegreville RCMP. Other members of the detachment were on hand as were CPO Ken Podoborozny and Fish and Wildlife Officer Mike Hewitt.

Staff Sergeant Hyggen started off by expressing to the small gathering that he understood the concerns and frustrations people had for their families and property. He added that he and his members shared those concerns and frustrations and wanted to find solutions to these problems together.

Hyggen provided some of his background both in his personal life, growing up in Saskatchewan, and in law enforcement where he worked in drug (general investigations) and homicide units.

Those in attendance were provided with lots of stats to consider forthe Vegreville Detachment from 2013 – 2018. Persons Offences (assault, robbery, threats, etc.) were down 24%. At the same time Property Offences (break & enter, thefts, mischief) were up 26%.

Other Criminal Offenses (weapons possession, disturbing the peace, failing to comply) were up 8.5%.

The performance of the detachment was also articulated to the crowd with the stat for “Clearance Rates”. These are the rates at which files are closed by the detachment. In 2 categories (persons offenses and other criminal offences), Vegreville ranked above the provincial averages. For the category of property offenses the ranking was 5% below that of Alberta. In other metrics, the Vegreville detachment was on par or performing better than average, sometimes by a wide margin.

One of the most unsettling stats shared was that of the “Police to Population” ratio. This is the measure of the number of members compared to the population they serve. This was broken down into “municipal” or resources paid for by the Town of Vegreville and “provincial” or those resources paid for by the province. For the Town of Vegreville, the ratio is 687 people to every officer (K Div avg 658). For the rural areas including farms, smaller towns, villages and hamlets, the ratio is 1159 people to every officer (K Div avg 541).

These stats while unsettling were clarified for the audience. Even though there is a disparity between Vegreville and Rural staffing, it does not mean that if there is a member attending to an issue in Mundare that another member who technically would be a “municipal” resource would not attend to something in Ranfurly. The detachment operates as a team to police the entire area they are responsible for. However, the lack of bodies cannot be discounted and does result in members being stretched thin at times, especially when considering the large coverage areas that all rural police forces must service.

The audience was also informed of some of the Initiatives that the Vegreville Detachment is involved in. These include the habitual offender management program where members proactively check on these offenders with the ultimate goal of preventing them from re-offending, drug projects which resulted in 10 people charged with trafficking so far in 2019 (all were released by the courts), education with school resource officer Cst Lappa servicing Vegreville and Mundare schools and providing information and support with bullying, vaping, drugs etc. and other projects they are working on.

There are also community initiatives that the RCMP are supporting including Citizen’s on Patrol, Rural Crime Watch and others. S/Sgt. Hyggen relayed the fact that most areas of crime have remained relatively stable with the exception of break and enters and vehicle thefts. Property crimes have increased and these areas are being addressed most aggressively by the Vegreville Detachment and K Division Initiatives.

Hyggen also conveyed one item from another town hall he attended where Solicitor General Doug Schwietzer spoke and described the Justice System as “broken”. While not news, this clearly bothered everyone in the room.

Following his presentation, Hyggen fielded questions from the audience.

Despite the group in attendance being small, they were engaged and passionate. Some wanted to voice an opinion, others ask questions and there were those offering to help. Citizen’s on Patrol was talked about as was the theme of accountability, both on the side of those breaking the law and the Justices of the Peace and Judges (the question was bluntly asked – ‘who is holding Judges accountable?’). One audience member asked about the rights of citizens to protect their property and families and another asked about how to get the message to Alberta Justice that we are not happy with the current state of our justice system.

As the meeting came to a close, Mayor Tim MacPhee shared a few words. Many people stayed for a while longer to talk amongst themselves and to members of law enforcement in attendance.