Ponoka RCMP have had a busy year and to cope with the extra work, planners are looking at increasing their investigative section.
Staff Sgt. Mike Numan and Sgt. Martin Girard updated town council on the detachment’s activities during the regular biweekly meeting Tuesday, Feb. 23
Numan said he is working on increasing the crime investigations position to two people, one for the town and the other for the county, as there is only one in the department now. Having two on the team would bring some benefit to investigations as other officers would not need to be called to assist.
Numan referred to the recent case of possession of stolen mail where several individuals received over 300 charges due to the investigative section. He said it is because of having that position that those individuals were caught.
Another area the detachment is focusing on is through following up with individuals under special conditions. Called the Habitual Offender Program, police will check in on people.
“The word is out there that we’re committed to doing a good job,” said Numan.
Property crime has also seen an increase due to a struggling economy and that is due in part to people having bad habits such as drug use, but they do not have the money to pay for it.
Numan also discussed the benefits of the Police Advisory Committee that was recently established. He suggested the program does well if run effectively.
There were no decisions at the meeting.