A Red Deer city employee who helped tackle a fleeing suspect after a police officer was pepper-sprayed was among the recipients of an RCMP citizen recognition award.
Lonnie Amundson, of the city’s public works department, received a plaque at a presentation on Thursday at Red Deer’s downtown police headquarters, along with other honorees.
The East Hill Save-on, McDonald’s and Tim Hortons outlets were recognized for co-operating with police to reduce their free Wi-Fi service in the evenings to bring down public nuisance complaints.
And the Insurance Bureau of Canada received recognition for producing widely distributed local public service commercials in which real victims of crime spoke about the need to reduce car thefts.
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Red Deer RCMP Supt. Ken Foster said he appreciates all of these civilian efforts enormously and wants to encourage more citizens to “do the right thing” by giving recognition where it’s due.
Quoting from the father of modern policing, Sir Robert Peel, who once said the police is the public and the public is the police, Foster stressed that RCMP can’t do the entire job — it’s up to every citizen to help reduce crime in the community.
Foster feels the plaques and artwork are a “nice token” and an ongoing reminder of the RCMP’s appreciation.
Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer expanded on his message by stating that police enforcement alone is not enough to bring down crime. “If you see something, say something… We rely on the efforts of the public — individuals and corporations — to find our way to a safer community,” she added.
The three East Hill businesses were awarded for helping police bring down public nuisance complaints in their area.
Insp. Gerald Grobmeier said a statistical analysis showed a lot of calls were coming from residents around the East Hill shopping complex, where young people had been gathering nightly last summer due to free Wi-Fi they were accessing from the businesses.
“These were mostly noise and vehicle complaints.”
The businesses agreed to cut off their Wi-Fi earlier, although this involved considerable adjustments to some of their schedules, and the complaints declined steeply, said Grobmeier.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada was honored for funding TV commercials about car theft not being a victim-less crime. The commercials spotlighting some of the real people who were affected, and showed actual videos of people nearly being run down.
Staff Sgt. Geoff Greenwood said these public service commercials got great traction: They were shown all over North America, even on a big screen in New York’s Times Square.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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