The City of Red Deer is surveying Red Deerians to determine community policing priorities for the next two years.
Public feedback is being sought as the city and Red Deer RCMP work jointly to develop the community’s 2022-2024 Annual Policing Plan.
“We are asking all community members to share their experiences with us,” said Inspector Holly Glassford, acting officer in charge for the Red Deer RCMP detachment.
Through public feedback, crime statistics, and data from the local RCMP detachment, it’s possible to understand “what our community is experiencing and, therefore, identify what areas we need to focus on,” Glassford added.
The new 2022-2024 Annual Policing Plan will take effect on April 1. The last plan, for 2020-2022, identified three priorities: crime reduction, public safety and community relations.
“While there is still work to be done,” Glassford feels many successes were achieved from addressing these areas of concern with pro-active policing and crime reduction efforts.
Red Deer’s overall crime rate fell by three per cent last year and dropped nearly 30 per cent between 2017 and 2021, according to the latest statistics from Red Deer RCMP.
Glassford said drug and property crimes both dropped from October 2019 to October 2021. During this period, Red Deer saw a 59 per cent reduction in drug crime and a 43 per cent reduction in property crime.
Previous community concerns about property crime led to the formation of a Property Crimes Unit at the Red Deer detachment.
Crime mapping has helped police deploy resources to areas where there has been an increase in thefts of motor vehicles and other crimes.
Possession of stolen goods incidents dropped by 73 per cent over the past five years and declined by 25 per cent in 2021.
Red Deerians who want to help direct local policing priorities for the next two years can share their experiences and concerns in the survey. With questions about crime, safety, quality of life, the challenges of living in Red Deer, and satisfaction with policing efforts, it will be available online at reddeer.ca/APP until Feb. 23.
More information about the Annual Policing Plan is available on the city’s website at reddeer.ca/APP.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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