More police are needed to curb crime, rural leaders told a Saskatchewan government committee Monday.
Ray Orb, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said people would especially like to see more RCMP officers.
“We know that the province is under a little bit of duress financially right now and we’re not sure if the province is going to be able come up with them,” Orb said.
The committee is tasked with examining how to reduce crime after Premier Brad Wall said last month that people around Saskatchewan have been voicing concerns.
On Sept. 19, police said three masked suspects armed with handguns allegedly approached a farmhand in west-central Saskatchewan.
Shortly after, there were media reports of farmers carrying firearms during harvest. RCMP then urged people not to take the law into their own hands.
Orb said in the meantime rural communities are consulting with the RCMP about the use of community safety officers.
A community constable is an armed, uniformed peace officer at the rank of special constable.
The RCMP website says the primary job of community constables is to prevent and reduce crime, but they don’t replace the work of regular Mounties.
The committee also heard from Regina police chief Evan Bray and Street Culture Kidz, a Regina-based non-profit group that works with vulnerable youth.
The meeting was not open to the media or the public.
Herb Cox, the committee’s chairman, said they would be discussing gang activity in urban centres, including the methamphetamine drug trade in Regina.
In rural Saskatchewan, it’s more crimes of property.
The committee is to hold meetings in Estevan and Yorkton later this week and North Battleford, Meadow Lake, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, La Ronge and Swift Current in the new year.
Cox said he expects the committee will make recommendations when it reports back to the government by the end of February.
It has to meet that time frame in order for the recommendations to be considered in the province’s March budget.
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