St. Paul establishing regional policing committee per province’s wishes

In response to provincial legislation, the Town of St. Paul will be forming a regional policing committee.

The wheels are in motion following the Jan. 13 council meeting for civilians to sit on a committee, to be formed by the end of March.

These committee won’t dictate or have a say in operations for the St. Paul RCMP detachment, but will have some say in priorities and goals, like the Town of St. Paul does.

“I do hope that this becomes an advocacy, it becomes a sounding board for those of the community, but I don’t know. It’s the first time we’ve had this in the province before,” Mayor Maureen Miller told Lakeland Connect on The Morning After. 

“We set the priority goals and what they are amongst the organization, based on who they have available and the programs that they have available to them. They set the program.” 

Municipalities under the population threshold of 15,000 had to make a choice: creating their own regional committee, or being part of a larger committee, which in this area’s case, would cover several detachments and a lot of kilometres.

By putting it in the hands of local residents, they can have better and direct feedback to the situations St. Paul faces.

First reading was passed on Jan. 13.

The Town will set the terms of reference and gauge interest of those who want to sit on the committee.

“I hope that this committee can either be a voice actively, and help get that message out. These priorities are still standing, and maybe they will come in with new priorities, but it’s really up to our police to actually figure out how to facilitate that,” said Miller. 

“First of all, safety and the vagrancy. But we have a high level or a high number of domestic violence within our community. So prioritizing that being the first priority. If a B and E had happened in your yard and they are gone and you’re found in the morning, the priority to me, and the direction that our council have given our RCMP would be obviously, to attend to the domestic violence.

“If it isn’t effective, then we will be sure to reach back out to the ministry and say we’re duplicating a conversation that we’re already having. And if that’s the outcome, well that’s the outcome, and we have to go through the process and see whether we’re still in line with what the community priorities are.”