The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Creighton RCMP are making progress in curtailing crime, ensuring safer roads and building bridges with the public. That's the word from Sgt. Mark Svaren, who last week presented town council with some key year-end enforcement statistics. Since much crime involves alcohol, repeat offenders or both, Mounties stepped up supervision of criminals freed on court conditions and enforcement of booze-related laws. As a result, the latest fiscal year saw officers lay 58 alcohol charges, more than doubling the previous year's total, Sgt. Svaren said. The police also aimed to regularly monitor eight offenders with conditions, up from six a year earlier, but fell short of that goal. Sgt. Svaren said the goal went unmet in part because the officer originally in charge of the initiative transferred out of Creighton. He said the ultimate objective of monitoring these offenders is not to pile up breach-of-condition charges, but to have them comply with their court orders. To bolster safety on the roads, officers strengthened efforts to detect and deter impaired driving. Four times they held what Sgt. Svaren called 'organized impaired driving blitzes,' short of their goal of six blitzes but far higher than the previous year, when none took place. Sgt. Svaren said numerous other small-scale impromptu checkstops took place but were not counted as blitzes. Had he expanded his definition of 'blitz' to include those initiatives, he said the detachment would have far surpassed its target. In the end, Mounties laid 25 impaired-driving charges, up from 17. Sgt. Svaren said he hoped their efforts were a factor in the year-over-year drop of injury-causing vehicle accidents from seven to four. To boost public relations and police visibility, officers set out to increase documented foot patrols and interaction with youth and the community at large. The goal for the past year was 12 documented foot patrols, up from zero, and 50 pre-planned school, youth or community-based interactions, up from 33. While Sgt. Svaren noted the detachment fell slightly short of those objectives, he still considered the initiatives successful. He said the foot patrols that were conducted bolstered RCMP visibility and led to some charges. And the officers' increased participation in school and community events has fostered 'a great rapport,' Sgt. Svaren said. Looking at the year ahead, Sgt. Svaren said the detachment's priorities will remain the same but some of the initiatives will evolve. In terms of road safety, he said the plan is to focus not only on impaired drivers, but also on ensuring drivers are licensed and their vehicles safe. Sgt. Svaren spoke also of plans to recruit tipsters _ 'confidential human sources' in police lingo _ as another tool in the fight against drugs and other crime. After taking in Sgt. Svaren's remarks, Ald. Shirley Owen commended the work of the detachment. She said she was impressed by how efficient and professional the RCMP were when her wallet was recently stolen. Other highlights from the April 24 town council meeting: Council voted to trade in the fire department's current Jaws of Life rescue unit in order to purchase a larger unit that can open even wider. The cost of the upgrade, worth $2,900 before taxes, comes at the recommendation of the fire chief. Council voted to nominate Robert Larocque, Albert Palmer and Ken Vincent for the Saskatchewan Protective Services Medal for exemplary and long service to the town fire department. Council voted to donate $100 to the Women's Resource Centre to help sponsor its upcoming V-Day event to raise awareness of violence against women.
