The more eyes and ears in the community, the better.
That was the general message of the Beaver River Crime Watch Association.
On Wednesday, March 28, the local chapter of the Alberta Rural Crime Watch Association hosted their first crime forum.
As part of their night of discussion, they included Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Scott Cyr, MD of Bonnyville Reeve Greg Sawchuk, director of public safety for the MD Chris Garner, Cold Lake Cst. Deborah Gibbs, Bonnyville Cst. Tyson Douglas, and secretary for the provincial Rural Crime Watch board Patty Franchuk.
The event was two-fold; it served as a platform for the local crime watch group to vet for members, while giving residents a chance to learn more about the organization and hear first-hand what is and can be done about rural crime.
MD resident Silke Skinner is spearheading the local group, and encouraged anyone interested to at least apply.
Personal experience helped Skinner realize there was a need for a Rural Crime Watch chapter within the MD.
Their property was broken into, and although she admits nothing of high value was stolen, the family were left feeling violated.
"After this experience, I contacted public safety and asked them if there had been something done in terms of a Rural Crime Watch group," Skinner detailed.
She was told someone needed to start and facilitate the program, which is what Skinner did.
During their moment in the spotlight, local dignitaries emphasized the importance of this initiative.
"When we're looking at this Rural Crime Watch, it's important that we recognize community and that we are all working together on this issue," Sawchuk said. "The more eyes we have out there working on this problem, the more likely we are to get some of these guys off of the street."
Gibbs agreed, adding the RCMP couldn't stress enough the importance of reporting suspicious activity.
"We are very stats-driven. You have to report everything. You may think that you're bothering us and think it's just a wierd vehicle, but just call it in. We need that, we need to go see if it is someone doing nothing... if they are doing bad stuff, we can catch them before or maybe just after they've done it," explained Douglas.
Gibbs and Douglas have been named the local chapter's RCMP liaisons through the Memorendum of Understanding (MOU) created between the provincial Rural Crime Watch and RCMP "K" Division.
What this means, Franchuk said, is the local detachments will work with the crime watch members to help make the community a safer place.
In order to become a part of the Beaver River Crime Watch Association, an applicant must first go through a criminal record check.
Once approved, the only thing they are asked to do is keep an eye out in their community, know their neighbours, and protect their property.
Skinner hopes their chapter will grow to cover the entire MD of Bonnyville, and will coordinate with other Rural Crime Watch groups.
"We are eyes for the RCMP, they want our help, so the more members we can get and the more we can spread this, the more we can be of an assistance to them," she said.
