RCMP invites the community to get to know them

Times Reporter 

 

On June 15, Strathmore RCMP are inviting the community to come out and get to know them, and their jobs, a little better. For the first time since Staff Sgt. Kevin Reilly has been in Strathmore, the detachment will be holding an open house at the station. 

“It’s geared towards members of the community, both the town and the rural, but we’re hoping to have a large amount of kids and families come. That’s why it’s on a Saturday, to try and get that involvement and see and meet us in a different light than you normally deal with us,” said Reilly. 

“It’s something I have been thinking of trying to do for the last few years. I think it’s a good community event, it allows people to get involved and meet some of the police officers outside of the working environment, which doesn’t always create the best relationships, and it involves community and families which is what it’s all about.”

The day will start out at 11 a.m. The tour will begin at the detachment with a short three to five minute video of life in the RCMP, followed by a tour of the office. 

“We’ll have that in the training room so people can kind of see what happens in training and through your career. Then they’ll get the tour of the whole office. Probably the highlight for most of them is going to be the cell block area, where we’ll show them cells and all that,” said Reilly.

The open house will include a number of outdoor things that will keep families entertained all day as well. 

“We have the dog section coming out and we’re hoping to get them to do some demonstrations. The RCMP helicopter is going to be here, just as a display,” said Reilly. 

“The Explosives Disposal Unit, commonly referred to as the bomb squad guys, are booked to come down and they’ll be doing demonstrations. Not blowing up stuff, but they have robots (they will demo) that are used to get to a dangerous area or suspicious package, so that they (the squad) don’t have to walk in there in case something does happen.”

There will be demonstrations held every hour from the Police Dog Services. At the end of the day there will be a demonstration of a high risk vehicle take-down scenario, involving the dogs and three members.  

The Strathmore Regional Victim Services will have a booth set up, explaining who they are and what their role is in the community. Reilly said Victim Services also play a large part in the day.  

The identification and forensics services will also be doing demos, on how finger printing is done and their role in the force. 

“We certainly can’t fingerprint all the kids, but at least they can show them what they do with that,” said Reilly. 

Some of the demonstrations, including the ones with the Police Dog Services, will be held on the Westmount Elementary school field. There will be a display of police cars, including the retro police car. Some of the members will also be set up with their own cars, explaining the mobile workstations and letting kids sit in the back seat, if they’re interested. 

Emergency response team members will be there with their tactical gear, and of course there will be members in Red Serge, and much, much more. 

Everything will begin at 11 a.m. on June 15, and is scheduled to run until 4 p.m. There will be a free BBQ and drinks for the first 1,000 people. Reilly said parking is limited, so they are asking people who live in town to consider walking to the event.