Craig Gilbert | [email protected]
A number of types of crime are happening more often in Jasper compared to 2018.
Jasper RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Rick Bidaisee told the 50 or so people at the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce’s annual general meeting Tuesday that his officers encounter “challenges” policing in the summer, and that crime is up in a number of areas in 2019, including assaults, domestic assaults and personal crimes like theft.
Bidaisee said he was one of the officers who responded to the “Donnybrook” at Pine Bungalows last weekend where four people were arrested and police were assaulted and threatened.
“We have issues with over-imbibing at some establishments,” he said, leading to altercations that result in “significant charges.”
“If we’re not careful, those calls can catch us flat-footed.”
Family violence cases present challenges to officers in terms of sheer manhours. An increase in domestic cases, by their nature complex, accounts for a much larger draw on resources than simple property crimes.
He said police have made 40 impaired driving arrests in 2019 so far, on track to meet or exceed 2018, and noted that number doesn’t include cases where the driver was found to be at the “borderline” of where officers would charge them.
He said officers haven’t seen a notable increase in public cannabis consumption since legalization last October.
“There are other substances in the community we’re trying to address on a continual basis.”
He said he’s making the case for more resources for the Jasper detachment, which is responsible for all 11,000 kilometres of Jasper National Park (and occasionally respond to calls outside the park, west of the B.C. border). He’d like to have regular patrols down to the Icefields Centre, and out to the Hot Springs, but it’s “tough to meet those objectives at current staff levels.”
One option is taking advantage of the RCMP’s Reserve and enhanced policing programs. The Reserve program sends former officers who retired in good standing to backfill for active members at detachments across the country.
The government expanded the program from 400 to a target of 1,200 reservists nationwide last year.
There is a cost to the detachment.
“They are hired to provide valuable support for full-time members who are on leave, or during special events or emergencies,” according to the RCMP website, providing “flexibility to temporarily back-fill positions quickly, without taking serving police officers away from their duties or increasing their workload.”
Bidaisee patrolled Pyramid Lake Road while waiting for his time to address the meeting at Pyramid Lake Resort and helped wardens break up a bear jam and dealt with an illegal camper before he made it to the podium. One of the bear jammers had a shopping bag full of mushrooms he’d picked.
Bidaisee also announced that construction of the new detachment next to the Sawridge Inn was unlikely to be completed until 2023. He said the four-year timeframe was due in part to “challenges” encountered during the design phase.
In the meantime, the aging HVAC system and existing shingles at the current detachment on Bonhomme Street will be replaced.
He closed with kudos for the wider first responder community, from firefighters and paramedics to emergency hospital personnel and Parks Canada wardens, saying Jasper was home to one of if not the best such group he’s worked with in 26 years in uniform.
“It goes without saying … that we succeed as a team.”
