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Cranbrook, BC (February 27, 2024) – Community policing and public safety priorities were front and centre Monday night, as Staff Sergeant Barry Graham and Amanda Peters, Municipal Operations Manager of the Cranbrook RCMP detachment appeared as a delegation to Council to discuss policing, public safety, and other priorities for the department in 2024.

Council asked several questions Monday night around issues like increasing petty crime, use of the new resources Council has provided for the RCMP, and the continuation of RCMP and City Bylaw joint homeless encampment safety patrols around the community. 

“We all recognize the increasing public safety challenges that communities right across the country, including Cranbrook, are facing,” says Mayor Wayne Price. “To be able to meet with our local RCMP detachment and to understand what the RCMP have in their workplan for 2024, with such an emphasis on our local issues, it shows there is understanding of our challenges and that there is a positive plan in place going forward.”

“We are committed to working with the community, and all levels of government and partner agencies to support safe communities and maintain public confidence and trust in the services we provide,” says S/Sgt Barry Graham. “Our areas of focus, as a department, are informed by the municipality, the province, as well as national and federal priorities. We will continue to work with our partners to identify and address the issues that matter most to the community.”

Several important initiatives also highlight the Cranbrook RCMP detachment’s workplan in 2024 including:

• Creation of a Community Engagement Coordinator position to assist with the administrative workload currently performed by the Community Policing Constable, increasing the RCMP’s ability to effectively deal with the issues in the community. The Community Engagement Coordinator will also gather and analyze crime trends and work with the RCMP to develop and implement crime prevention and reduction strategies. 
   
• CPTED – ‘Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design’ – an initiative to help support and educate businesses and residents around the importance of the proper design and effective use of the built environment, which can lead to a reduction in the incidence and fear of crime, and an improvement in the quality of life.
   
• Develop an RCMP/Policing Strategic Plan in the fall of 2024 with a public engagement and survey component.
   
• Relaunch the Cranbrook RCMP Volunteer Program, while increasing visibility in the community through proactive patrols, joint safety patrols with Bylaw Services, Citizens On Patrol, while attending more community events.
   
• Engage and provide crime prevention and reduction programs, initiatives, and services to help address community concerns and crime trends.
   
• Launch Business Engagement meetings, where Cranbrook RCMP will meet regularly with representatives of the business community to discuss crime trends and challenges faced by businesses in Cranbrook. Cranbrook RCMP will utilize information from the business community to identify and create crime reduction initiatives. 

S/Sgt Graham and Peters also shared crime statistics for 2023 as part of their presentation to Council Monday.

Of note, compared to 2022 figures, there were increases in break & enters to businesses (+35%), shoplifting (+22%), mischief (+20%), and assaults (+16%) in 2023. Residential break and enters are comparable with 48 reports in 2023, compared to 45 in 2022. Theft from vehicles is down 25% in 2023 compared to 2022.

Cranbrook RCMP submitted 322 reports to Crown recommending charges in 2023; 82% of those were approved by Crown. 

The Watch Clerks continue to provide significant support to frontline members, reducing the administrative workload of frontline members, increasing the amount of time these members are in the community. The Watch Clerks provided administrative support to 2,969 files and 150 after-hours Report to Crown Counsel packages. 

RCMP members also conducted 77 joint patrols with City Bylaw Services between August and December 2023.

“We recognize that petty crime in the community may be underreported to the RCMP and fully appreciate some people may feel reluctant to call the police. Even if police are not immediately able to respond or there was a delay in reporting to police, the information provided to us through the public reporting crimes to police is valuable,” says S/Sgt. Graham. “That information may help us gather intelligence, identify crime trends, and implement initiatives to address those issues, whether that be proactive patrols, targeted enforcement or utilizing other resources. Further, there may be ways that we can bring accountability through providing information and evidence to Crown Counsel for consideration of charges, even if we don’t catch someone in the act.”