M.D. gets green light on adding three RCMP members and support staff

The Lakeland will be getting more police officers to tackle rural crime.

The M.D. of Bonnyville had put forward a proposal in March for three more RCMP officers and an additional support staff member and now the funding has been confirmed from the province.

The money comes from the regional pot of ID 349 revenue.

“A lot of us ran on this issue as far as real crime goes. We had put forward a multi-prong approach. And we’re still advocating for stronger sentences. We know that the problem is bigger than just arresting the criminal. But we still have real crime out there,” said Sawchuk on The Morning After.

The three-year commitment will see the M.D. pay $1.3 million while having almost $500,000 come from ID 349.

The added police will act as a regional crime reduction unit serving Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Glendon and Elizabeth and Fishing Lake Metis Settlements.

The added policing will not factor into the province’s anticipated changes to how RCMP is funded by municipalities, which could see the M.D. pay a much higher bill for the same service.

“I just listened to a webinar here on the police costing model, it’s coming forward. They did make mention that this had come up we had put it out in our survey response to them. And they said that they are going to take into account any enhanced policing positions and essentially subtract it from your cost. So hopefully that comes out in your in writing. That is what they said in the webinar,” he said.

There is no word on when the officers would be arriving in the area.