The RCMP have begun night patrols in the community of McAdam, N.B.
Four months after the community met with top officials from the RCMP, its mayor said the RCMP are now patrolling at night about three to four nights a week.
The village grappled with ongoing issues of crime and Mayor Ken Stannix said the nighttime is when a considerable amount of the crime was happening.
“Probably for the last three years or so there has been no RCMP presence here in the village, normally between 12 midnight and about eight in the morning, and so the criminal element knows the routine of the RCMP officers and they take advantage of that lack of presence,” he said.
He said he is encouraged by that decision, hoping the meeting back in June really showed the RCMP how concerned the community was.
A key issue raised at the meeting and in the weeks leading up to it was 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.
Residents described theft of vehicles, four-wheelers, tools, trailers, and even gasoline.
“I think the meeting we had with them was productive,” he said.
Stannix said there has been success with the renewed police presence, alluding to a few arrests that have occurred since that meeting, and is hopeful that presence may deter future crime.
Back in June, though, RCMP Commanding Officer DeAnna Hill told the residents gathered that the police force was continually being asked to do more with less, including the fact it was dealing with record-low recruitment of new officers.
“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,” she said at the meeting in June.
Cpl. Hans Ouellette, a spokesperson for the New Brunswick RCMP, couldn’t speak to specifics about the policing efforts in the community of McAdam but said it is committed to protecting the communities the force serves.
“The New Brunswick RCMP is committed to utilizing the resources we have to provide the best possible service to the communities we serve,” he said in an interview by phone.
Ouellette said the police service takes all calls seriously, whether they are deemed urgent or not.
When asked, given the human resource and recruitment issues, whether adding more patrols and officers to McAdam was sustainable, Ouellette said it works in collaboration with the communities so it can direct resources to where they are needed the most.
“We rely heavily on intelligence-led policing to really identify crime trends and then focus on those causing the most harm in those communities,” he said. “A lot of that is happening in the background.”
According to the RCMP Crime Occurrence Map, to date in McAdam, there have been 43 occurrences reported to police. Three of those were break-and-enter, with the others listed under “all other occurrences.”
It has another category, which is the municipality of McAdam, where, to date, there have been 275 occurrences reported to police.
Of those, 13 were assaults, eight were break-and-enter, one was a drug offence, five were for fraud, 22 fell under the Mental Health Act and 15 involved theft of a motor vehicle,
It said 195 occurrences were reported for same period in 2021.
Despite the general sense of distrust in police that the community expressed back in June, Ouellette said the RCMP is committed to it’s communities.
“We want to keep everyone safe.”