About 270 people met with Minister of Public Safety Bill Hogan and the top brass of the New Brunswick RCMP in McAdam to express their concern over ongoing crime and a lack of police presence.
The town has been quite vocal about a crime wave that has included thefts and break-ins. Residents have reported stolen gasoline, tools, car parts and even vehicles, among other crimes.
A key issue is an alleged lack of police presence and response within the community, with many residents alleging the RCMP don’t show up until the next day or at all, in some cases.
The crowd was passionate, often booing RCMP responses, or clapping as residents made bold statements about the issues facing the tiny village.
One person, who did not identify himself, asked what level of force he could use in the event his 90-year-old mother was being robbed in her home.
RCMP District Superintendent Andy LeClair told him he could use “reasonable force,” but could not condone vigilantism, to which the group booed, with one person shouting “we have to protect ourselves because you don’t show up.”
In her opening speech, DeAnna Hill, Commanding Officer of the New Brunswick RCMP, spoke to the resources issues that the policing sector is facing and how hard it has been to recruit new officers, leaving the frontlines quite thin.
“We are in an unprecedented time when it comes to policing,” she said in her opening remarks.
“One of our issues is resources across the board. … Across our country, we’re having issues with recruitment and we’ve never seen the like of the issues we’re having getting people in through the door to apply.”
Many people took to the microphone, including McAdam business owner Don Doherty.
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Doherty, who has been vocal about the policing issues, didn’t hold back in his relentless questioning of the RCMP.
He questioned why RCMP officers are not permanently stationed within the community, why there is a lack of follow-up after crimes are reported, why many people who are charged with crimes are often let back out into the community instead of being kept in custody, and he was critical of the fact that many officers do not know the area well enough.
He also took aim at the fact that the McAdam detachment does not serve St. Stephen, but many community members allege that officers have to mainly come from there to service the area.
“Your police officers have to know the geography,” he said. “We’ve lost our sense of safety.”
Another resident said her 68-year-old father, who wasn’t home at the time, had his house robbed. She described the disaster scene that the house was left in. Her father’s credit card was stolen and he ended up being the victim of fraud as a result of the robbery.
She said police have not followed up and there has been no action on the file.
“I have spent countless hours writing my own statements, I had to take pictures, I had to make my own file, because they didn’t show up,” she said to the panel.
“I’d just like to be very clear: you’re empowering these people, in this village, that are criminals when you don’t show up.”
Another man, a business owner who said he was from Stanley, N.B., said he came to show support for the McAdam community after he was broken into 27 times since December, losing nearly $300,000 worth of goods.
He said he’s had to solve nine of the many thefts he’s been faced with, identifying people through security footage and handing that evidence over to the police.
“Make it stick,” he said, gesturing to the officers sitting at the front of the gymnasium. “I know I’m not from your community, but I feel for you.”
His remarks drew applause.
The RCMP gave many general answers and said the goal of the meeting was to listen and take the information back to develop solutions moving forward.
Hill said she heard the frustration from the community.
“You can’t come to a meeting like tonight and not pick up on the sense of frustration,” she said Monday. “I get it. The days of having a highly visible police force might not be achievable.”
Public Safety Minister Bill Hogan, who was only recently appointed to his role, said he felt the meeting went well.
He said there is a plan for a marketing campaign on how to make “your home less attractive” to criminals and how to protect yourself.
“I know that there are a number of files open with the RCMP but they can’t talk about in public,” he said speaking to the specific examples residents brought up at the meeting.
“We’re going to have a discussion later, not tonight but in the future, on different things we can do to work together to help the community feel safer and be safer.”
McAdam Mayor Ken Stannix was pleased with the meeting. He said it was good that people from other communities had shown up.
“It reinforces that this is not a McAdam issue alone,” he said. “I’m hopeful that change will take effect. I know it’s not going to be quick, it’s going to take time.”
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