PG RCMP Place Priority On Right 'Equipment' For Officers

Friday, February 11, 2011 03:55 AM

Prince George, B.C. - The commander in charge of the RCMP's Prince George detachment says the volume and seriousness of local 'calls-for-service' makes ensuring officers have the right 'skill set' to deal with those situations critical...

The local detachment covers a population base of 100-thousand people living within the city, itself, and the surrounding rural areas. Last year, officers handled more than 35-thousand calls-for-service. And Superintendent, Brenda Butterworth-Carr, says, "In particular, in Prince George, we have significant criminal code investigations, so they're not just something that are more minor in nature, we certainly deal with the more severe criminal code offences."

Speaking at a news conference yesterday to respond to a report from the BC Civil Liberties Association that raised, among other issues, the need to better equip officers with 'de-escalation' skills and concerns about dealings with First Nations, Butterworth-Carr says the Prince George detachment has made providing adequate and appropriate training one of the main priorities in its annual performance plan. She says in addition to necessary communication skills, there is a focus on making sure officers are able to access and train with mental health professionals, and that they're provided training around dealing with violence in relationships.

"We recognize that we have a tremendous amount of diversity here in Prince George," says Butterworth-Carr. "(And) as the detachment commander, it is my responsibility through our training NCO and our watch commanders to ensure that our people are very well-versed in interacting with our local community."

"And we believe that it’s significant enough to actually have that as a priority." As for the detachment's relationship with local First Nations communities, she acknowledges mistakes have been made in the past. "We know very well that there's a tremendous amount of room for improvement and we strive very hard to do that." She says local officers are involved in a number of initiatives and programs aimed at building that relationship - things like the youth-at-risk program, cultural camps and involvement with the Aboriginal Justice Society - putting the preventative and intervention 'pieces' into place, versus just enforcement.

Butterworth-Carr points out the detachment's annual performance plan is reviewed and signed off on by the Mayor and the L'heidli T'enneh.

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Posted on Friday, February 11, 2011 03:55 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: kolberg on February 11 2011 9:35 AM

According to Census data, the Fraser Fort George Regional District had a population of 92,264 in 2006. That figure includes Mackenzie, McBride and Valemount.

Don’t exaggerate the population count, it makes everything else you see seem suspect.

Posted by: kolberg on February 11 2011 9:35 AM

Posted by: Palopu on February 11 2011 11:07 AM

Actually kolberg, the population of the City of Prince George is approx 72/75000. The City of Prince George pays for 90% of the cost for 121 Officers, and 50 staff that police the City. The Prov/Feds pay the other 10%.

Prince George has nothing to do with the Fraser Fort George Regional District Policing. This is looked after by the Regional Police who's main office is at 5th and Ospika. The Regional Police are funded for the most part by the Provincial Government and the Reg Dist.

The total cost of the new Police Station on 4th and Victoria will be paid for by the taxpayers of Prince George, with no funding from the Province, Fed Government, or the Regional Dist.

So your right. When they talk about a population of 100,000 they are muddying the water. She should be more specific about areas of responsibility for the RCMP and who pays for what.

Posted by: Retired 02 on February 11 2011 3:18 PM

What they really need to do is issue our police force with runing shoes so they cant kick so hard.,They dont seem to know that putting the boots to a suspect is rather outdated. I think :-)
Cheers

Posted by: lmorge on February 12 2011 12:07 AM

Interesting comments from supt Carr who has little operational experience herself.
The problem is you have a young force with members with very little experience dealing with people from different backgrounds. Couple that with their generation "y" backgrounds and you will see that they are more concentrated on themselves then the public they serve.
The rift between the supt. and her lowermanagement is proof she needs to practise what she preaches.

Posted by: Harbinger on February 12 2011 11:34 AM

"People skills" can be taught or is it just inherent with ones personality and attitude?

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on February 12 2011 1:57 PM

It's both. I have had experiences with officers who were very friendly and listened. Great.

I ran into one RCMP some years ago who pulled me over for *disobeying* an amber light. The only thing he did not do was click the heels of his boots, but his scowling treatment of me was of the ice cold Gestapo mentality.

Not so great. And beyond correction by teaching. He was transferred soon after.

Posted by: Harbinger on February 13 2011 6:33 PM

A friend "with credentials" once told me that Mounties don't like to be transferred to towns that start with Fort or Prince. Go figure, eh?

Posted by: lmorge on February 13 2011 6:34 PM

Well pg, it probably would have been avoided if you didn't blow the light. The point is if your a cop with some experience you should treat good people like good people and bad people like bad people - and have enough sense to know the difference.