Summer crime rate down
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
After a slower than normal summer, the police spent time to address some concerns from the town of Invermere.
Staff Sgt. Marko Shehovac of the Invermere detachment of the RCMP addressed the District of Invermere council meeting last week. After updating the council on this summer’s crime, Shehovac faced questions from councillors about issues ranging from motorcycle noise in town to volunteer efforts to traffic enforcement.
When asked about noisy vehicles, Shehovac said he understood that many of the bikes in question were off-road bikes making their way through town towards trails. He said that remote areas are difficult to cover for officers, but alluded to an overtime fund in place for just summer activity that they have used for constables to spend days off on quads policing some more remote areas. However, he also said that most of the fund was used to police the Show and Shine in Radium.
Councillor Bob Campsall brought up the issue of speed bumps that many residents have complained about and asked if there were other ways to control traffic in busier school zones like 13th Ave.
Shehovac responded by saying that speed bumps were obviously effective but also said that he has been coupling that with an increased police presence in the school areas.
“I don’t like (staff) saying ‘I’m too busy’,” he said. “If people are not satisfied with the patrols or the visibility, then I will fix that. There will be patrols and there will be visibility. The parents want you out there. It only takes twenty minutes in the morning.”
Shehovac also shed some light on the budget of the detachment saying that more than 60 per cent of it went to fuel costs
Though not many concrete solutions were given for any of the issues raised, Shehovac was clear in stating that he would be bringing the concerns to his staff and addressing them as soon as possible, and asked that as concerns are brought to council that they be brought to the attention of the detachment as well.
v2
