By Nigel Maxwell

RCMP team uses high visibility to combat crime in rural Sask.

Mar 27, 2018 | 12:00 PM

The Saskatchewan RCMP’s Crime Reduction Team has had some big success in a short period of time.

The team, which has been operational only since February, has made over 100 arrests and charged 19 known gang members. Cpl. Ryan Davies said the team consists of 18 members who work across the province using intelligence-driven policing.

“Having a criminal analyst attached to the team, they are able to focus on those certain areas and those prolific-risk offenders,” Davies said. “Those people are the ones we concentrate on.”

Davies said the biggest challenge they face is working in such a large geographic area.

“We want to be out there often, and as much as we can be there, so you know we have 18 [members] and we are putting in a lot of hours but getting good results,” he said.

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Davies said another secret to their success is high visibility around the rural communities, including traffic enforcement. The team has made 412 traffic stops to date.

“We’re not always there hammering with traffic tickets,” Davies said. “We are checking for sobriety, licenses are up to date, registrations are up to date, and just letting people know we are there.”

Moving forward, Davies said the team members will continue to make their presence known in rural communities, in the hope they can help people feel safer while also deterring crime.

“It’s not always the armed police officer, dressed up, hitting a door or slapping handcuffs on somebody,” he said.

The Crime Reduction Team was created after positive results were seen from temporarily RCMP redeployments throughout the province. Officers provided targeted enforcement in response to community safety concerns in the Battlefords, Onion Lake, and Turtleford areas.

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell