RCMP prepares for summer

Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter

 

This summer promises to be a little extra busy for the Strathmore RCMP.
In June the Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association is hosting a concert series as part of their annual rodeo event.
“That rodeo has been very good in past years, we have (had) very little problems with them and they’re patrons, whether it’s in town or at the rodeo grounds. This year could be very different,” said Strathmore RCMP Staff Sgt. Kevin Reilly to town council in March.
“They are putting on a concert series. What that involves is at 6 p.m., they’re rounding up a whole lot of people and they’re putting them in the infield, it will have a 10-foot fence, they will have security.
“I have expressed what I need that security company to be able to do… we’re going to need extra policing, there’s no doubt. I told them that, I told them the cost without looking at it, I suspect will be somewhere between $5,000 to $8,000 in overtime.”
Some of the big names coming include LeAnn Rimes, George Canyon, Tim Hicks and the Village People.
Also coming up this summer is the 2015 Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games, July 16-19.
Reilly expects there will be a few overtime shifts, but he doesn’t expect too many problems, and doesn’t see the overtime costs being much above $2,000-$3,000.
He anticipates that Heritage Days will be the same. Last year the detachment was able to put in less overtime than normal, and this year he expects the overtime costs to be in the $5,000 to $8,000 range. Reilly said he planned to explain to the general manager the procedure for payment of the increased costs.
“I don’t believe that the town should be paying for those costs when they’re running something like that, those expenses are directly related to that,” said Reilly.
This spring and summer the detachment will be focusing on catching speeders racing through school zones, and implementing bike and foot patrols through the town.