Security firm renewed for three-month term in St. Paul

A security firm will continue to patrol the streets of St. Paul until the end of September.

St. Paul town council extended the contract of RF Protection and K9 Services until Sept. 30 at the council meeting last week.

The town originally started the three-month contract in the spring in response to resident’s increasing complaints about the high levels of crime and thefts.

“Based on the information last year, we had major activity during the summer months,” said Mayor Maureen Miller.

“We thought that we would extend it until the end of September and see what kind of numbers they came in with activity at that time, share those numbers with the RCMP to engage in a conversation to see if that assisted in any way in their activity as well,” she said.

Miller said the town received numerous calls last summer from concerned citizens to increase the police visibility.

However, with maxed-out RCMP support, the Town felt RF Protection and K9 Services’ work was needed and is seeing results.

The cost is just under $6000.

“At the same time, we’ve also engaged the community into locking your car doors, lock up your bikes, all of those things that they are noticing that the reporting back to us, we are then encouraging the community to do something about it,” said Miller.

“Maybe we just needed that extra support for a period of time to engage the community and creating safe environment for themselves as well.”

The security firm reports to the RCMP about suspicious activity and has given tips about break-ins in unmarked vehicles.