The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities says the province has taken positive steps toward addressing crime in rural Saskatchewan.
However, RMs are waiting for a report from a provincial task force on crime prevention, added SARM president Ray Orb.
The Saskatchewan government announced the formation late last year of a provincial task force on crime prevention headed by Battlefords MLA Herb Cox.
The task force was expected to report back to the province in early 2017 but no recommendations have been put forward.
“We’re still waiting for that committee to come back with recommendations,” Orb said last week.
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“We’re getting a little bit anxious because we thought that by now they would have had some kind of announcement.”
Rural security, crime prevention and policing were common topics of discussion when SARM held its annual convention in Saskatoon earlier this year.
Municipal delegates attending the event voiced concerns over thefts, property crimes and a lack of police resources in rural areas.
Since then, SARM has been in regular contact with the RCMP in hopes that the two organizations can come up with a more co-ordinated approach to preventing crime in rural areas, said Orb.
SARM officials have also met with Cox on an informal basis to discuss crime-related issues that affect rural residents, as well as potential responses.
Orb said he was encouraged by the scope of the consultations that were undertaken by the task force.
The Saskatchewan government has also indicated that more money may be available to augment police resources or address crime-related concerns in the province.
“I’m not sure if it (will be) money for RCMP … or even special (officers) that are out there or deal specifically with rural crime,” Orb said.
Cox said the task force’s report is being reviewed by the provincial justice department.
He said he is hopeful that the province will make a formal announcement based on the report’s recommendations “within weeks.”
“We heard a lot about visibility of the RCMP in rural areas … and concerns about that,” Cox said.
“That’s certainly one of the things that we’re going to be looking at.”
Cox said the task force held meetings in 10 Saskatchewan communities.
He said police response times and RCMP visibility were recurring themes in meetings with rural residents.
“The operative word there was … visibility,” he said.
“They’d like to see more visibility for police forces, certainly in rural areas.”
