Pubdate: Mon, 30 May 2005
Source: Parklander, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005 Hinton Parklander
Contact:  http://www.hintonparklander.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/782
Author: Bradley Fehr

PUBLIC ABSENT FROM MEETING ON POLICING

Row upon row of carefully aligned chairs in the Hinton Centre sat
empty on the evening of May 26 as just one citizen turned out for a
public forum on policing in Hinton.

"I'm really disappointed by the turnout," said Coun. Mike Jodoin, who
is the council liaison for the Community Crime Prevention Association
(CCPA).

"This is either an affirmation of the direction of the RCMP or the
weather is too nice."

However, lone resident Tammy Powell was not sitting in the audience
all by herself. About a dozen individuals, all of whom work in
conjunction with law enforcement in some capacity, were also on hand.

The mayor and three town councillors were there, as was a
representative from the Citizens on Patrol (COPS), the chair of the
CCPA, a native court worker and several town staff.

"It would have been nice to benefit from a greater number of
opinions," said Staff Sgt. Harold Milroy of the Hinton RCMP.

The one voice that did show, Powell, was not there to express
concerns, but rather came to the meeting to hear what the police
considered to be their priorities.

She had taken an informal poll of her co-workers and the consensus was
that drug use, especially crystal meth use, was the single biggest
concern in town.

"I anticipated that the drug issue would be big," she said after the
meeting.

The issues of drugs and youth did take up a large chunk of the
discussion, as did the police's relationship with the aboriginal
community, the role of crime prevention groups and operational
policing priorities.

Powell asked Milroy about the RMCP's strategy for dealing with the
drug issue.

He replied that his force is trying to target street level traffickers
and are trying to educate youth about the dangers of drugs.

Jodoin jumped in and said he's in favour of precursor laws that would
make some of the ingredients in crystal meth illegal, which would give
the RCMP another tool in fighting the drug trade.

Milroy discussed the drug enforcement strategy, but didn't go into
detail about the local detachment's specific plans for fear of tipping
his hand to those individuals breaking the law.

"I was hoping to get a bit more information about the drug strategy,"
Powell said, adding she understood why more couldn't be said.

She agreed with the assessment of Jodoin and the staff sergeant about
the turnout.

It's very unfortunate. There are people who have a lot of complaints,"
she said.

Those complaints became the next topic, when Milroy explained policing
priorities and how the force can't be expected to respond to every
minor call, especially if a major incident is happening at the same
time.

"We realize we're not going to keep everyone happy," he
admitted.

Nadine Callihoo, the native court worker for Edson, Jasper and Hinton,
expressed a need to improve the relationship between the aboriginal
community and the RCMP. However, she acknowledged that the
relationship has improved over the last two or three years.
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MAP posted-by: Derek