Glendon residents fed up with drug and alcohol abuse in their community and the limitations of the RCMP in dealing with errant behaviour discussed what they could do themselves to combat crime, at a public meeting at Glendon's Fire Hall last Wednesday.
For some, the possibility of taking the law into their own hands or meting out "western justice" was a tempting one, since they felt as though there was little alternative.
"We can see what our community's coming to - and it's not pretty," said Debbie Vezeau, a mother whose children attend school in Glendon. "We're tired of walking on eggshells around the criminals instead of them walking on eggshells around us."
The meeting, which was organized by concerned community members, gave people the chance to air their frustrations and get answers from Staff Sgt. Luis Gandolfi with the Bonnvyille RCMP Detachment about law enforcement.
Parents said they were worried to let their kids walk into the village for lunch because they'll be approached by the people who are more and more not trying to hide erratic behaviour. Among the 50 plus people present at the meeting, some described strangers taking unsolicited photos of their kids, or dancing around drunkenly in a public area, or otherwise just walking around high on drugs.
"The Town itself is trying the best it can," said Mayor Johnnie Doonanco, adding Glendon contributes $8,000 a year towards the MD of Bonnyville's constables, who can enforce rules about speeding, wearing of seatbelts, improper use of quads, etc, but not more serious criminal code violations. "But what's the use of a law or a bylaw if it's not enforced?"
Gandolfi gave several examples of how police were limited in their role. For one thing, just like the rest of the province was affected by the economic downturn, so was the RCMP, which is short 150 positions across the province. "Is that going to change over time? I hope so," he said, noting several members punched in hours of voluntary overtime to make up the difference. In answer to a request for increased police presence, he noted that members were making, and would continue to make, an effort to drop by Glendon at regular intervals.
Some people said that they had put in calls to the RCMP on different occasions, and gotten either no response, or a late response. One woman said she called to report gunshots a few nights before, and no one came. When she called back to follow up, she discovered the call wasn't even recorded, a situation Gandolfi couldn't explain.
Other issues people had involved RCMP members coming and talking to people who are causing problems, picking up those people, and then releasing them right away.
Gandolfi said it was hard to describe why a person might be released without giving information that would violate that person's privacy, but said there are reasons why members do what they do. "You don't have all the information - we do."
He pointed out the issue of charter rights - everybody has rights that can't be violated without cause. For instance, the RCMP has to have due cause to search someone or their home, and can't just execute search warrants simply on suspicions of criminal activity.
As frustrating as the RCMP's limitations were for the public, Gandolfi told the audience those limitations were even more frustrating for RCMP members who deal with crime every day.
He did urge people to call the RCMP if they suspect a crime is taking place. Even if members can't do anything about the situation, the increased call volume will reflect how busy the detachment gets and will demonstrate the need for more members, said Gandolfi.
"Let's move on to the solution stage," he said, introducing people to the Citizens on Patrol (COP) program which is also offered in St. Paul. People have to volunteer and agree to commit to the program, to do street patrols and be "the eyes and ears" for the RCMP. "It's a community driven program and it must be driven by you guys."
Some of those present who expressed a desire to help their community and protect their families signed up for the program. But in an interview following the meeting, Doonanco expressed doubt that the COP program would be the solution to Glendon's problems. He noted there have been attempts to start such a program before, but getting volunteers to start and keep it going can be tricky.
"You got to go through the RCMP," he said, adding it's "not right" for people to take the law into their own hands either. If people want to volunteer for the COP program, the Village of Glendon would support them, but for serious issues, such as concerns about drugs, people should call the police, he said, adding, "They're willing to come."