Langdon gathers for RCMP town hall

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Strathmore and Langdon RCMP presented their third quarter report and crime statistics during a town hall meeting in Langdon on March 9.

Also presented were the updated crime statistics recorded by Strathmore RCMP over the course of 2022, including past statistics dated back to 2019. 

Staff Sgt Mark Wielgosz with Strathmore RCMP made the presentation, speaking to the local detachment’s priorities for the new year, as well as what many of the presented numbers mean for the community. 

“What we are trying to do is make sure that we are getting out into our communities, not only as a detachment target, but as an Alberta RCMP priority to be engaging with our residents (and) talking with the public to try and find out what are the public’s concerns around public safety, as well as other issues and concerns,” he said. “We are here as your police service, and we want to make sure we are hearing from you – what do you want from your police service.”

He explained policing priorities are established at the start of a fiscal year, which are made to address the biggest priorities the detachment is looking to deal with during a given year.

Such priorities are established twofold – via external scanning, which consists of seeking feedback throughout the year from the public and from elected officials, as well as via internal scanning wherein local crime statistics are examined to evaluate and estimate trends in criminal activity.

“We get feedback as far as, what are the perceptions of crime in our area, what are the issues and concerns our residents have, and we can try to tailor what we are going to do to satisfy those concerns or deal with those issues,” said Wielgosz. “With that feedback, we are able to formulate what our main issues are that we are grappling with.”

The three current priorities that have been established for the year include reduction of property crimes, with a focus on break and enters, theft from motor vehicles and theft of motor vehicles; road safety being specifically a reduction of overall collisions, as well as collisions causing injury; and community engagement.

The majority of criminal statistics recorded from Strathmore had decreased between 2021 and 2022, with some notable exceptions. These included, but were not limited to increases in assaults, abductions, criminal harassment, uttering threats, theft, possession of stolen goods, and arson.

More information regarding local crime statistics is available via the local RCMP detachment, or through their website.