BOISSEVAIN, Man. – Chants of “trick or treat” can be heard as const. Steve Greening leaves the RCMP office and starts walking south toward Boissevain’s downtown area.
It’s Halloween, the sky is overcast, and costumed children are scurrying door to door in search of treats.
Greening is a tall, sturdy man. His long strides soon take him to the railroad tracks that run through the heart of this community in southwestern Manitoba.
He will spend most of the next several hours on foot patrol watching for
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pranksters wanting to toss eggs at houses and store fronts.
It is dark by the time he arrives downtown and ducks into the shadows of a wooden grain elevator.
Two groups of teenagers are roaming down a nearby street from opposite directions. Suddenly, they rush at each other, yelling and chucking eggs.
Greening clicks on his flashlight and jogs toward the cluster of youths. All but a few of them scatter like leaves carried on the wind.
The scene gets repeated often over the next couple of hours. Time after time, groups of youths are stopped, asked their names and checked for eggs that might be stashed in their pockets.
“Who’s out throwing eggs,” Greening asks three boys wandering down a side street.
“Lots of people,” one of the boys replies.
“What are their names?” Greening asks.
“We don’t know,” the boys answer in unison.
Those caught with eggs are warned they’ll be sent home if they get caught a second time. Most take the warning seriously.
“They’re good kids,” Greening comments, after stopping some kids, confiscating their eggs and giving them a warning.
“We’re not out here to give them criminal records.”
The moon is hidden by clouds. A mist dims the glow from the downtown street lamps. Youths, some wearing toques and others with their faces painted black, move about like shadows along the streets and back lanes.
Two other police officers are patrolling in vehicles to keep the antics in check. Town employees and several members of the volunteer fire department share in the effort.
This is Greening’s first taste of a Halloween in rural Manitoba. He grew up in the Maritimes and earned a university degree before enrolling in RCMP training. He was posted to Boissevain after graduating in June.
He finds that Halloween in Boissevain isn’t much different than what he experienced in his home province of Newfoundland.
“It’s just kids out messing around. It’s the same stuff everywhere.”
Greening may eventually take a posting in a northern community. It would be a way to advance his career and gain a promotion.
Working in highway patrol interests him, but he hasn’t made any definite decisions.
In the meantime, he’s content with his position in Boissevain. He’s already involved in the community through things like recreational hockey, serving on the local justice committee and volunteering at the youth centre.
“Everyone knows who you are here. I really like that. By far, it’s better than
policing a big city.”
By 8:30 p.m., Greening has joined cpl. Paul McConnell in a white, unmarked Ford Expedition. They check out some youths walking along a back lane and are about to return to the police vehicle when McConnell hears what sounds like church bells chiming.
The two officers drive over to the United Church, a stone structure with stained-glass windows and a spire that towers into the sky.
The main door into the church foyer is unlocked. McConnell and Greening turn on their flashlights and step inside. The glow from the flashlights creates an eerie effect inside the otherwise dark church with its high, vaulted ceiling.
When McConnell and Greening step outside a few minutes later, they’re met by a woman in a car complaining that someone was throwing eggs at her vehicle. Greening goes to investigate.
McConnell steps back inside the church, where he discovers the wooden cabinet surrounding the church’s sound system has been left open. A set of keys is sitting on top of the cabinet.
A member of the church arrives, the building is checked thoroughly and then locked. The mystery of the chiming church bells remains unsolved.
McConnell returns to patrolling the town in the unmarked vehicle. Not much is happening, so he has a chance to talk about what it’s like policing in a rural community.
He enjoys it. He calls Boissevain, with its population of 1,500, a “pro-police” community.
“It’s a friendly town, a pretty town. People make it enjoyable to live here.”
It’s also a peaceful town, where criminal code offences are rare.
McConnell got involved with the golf club and the Kinsmen when he moved to Boissevain. He found it easy to fit in.
He and his wife have a three-year-old son, and are expecting the birth of their second child in a few weeks.
Despite enjoying Boissevain, McConnell knows that one day he will likely move to another community. He would like to settle more permanently once his children reach school age.
“This would be a great spot, a great place for them to go to school. I find that everything you could want is here.”
Police and volunteers take a break from their patrols around 10 p.m. They converge on the RCMP office, where doughnuts, chips and other snacks and refreshments await.
Their respite is short lived. Reports start coming in of more escapades out in the streets. Besides egg tossing, some people have turned their efforts to dragging garbage cans, dumpsters and other objects onto streets.
Const. Renée Souque and volunteer Adam Potter stop near the local hockey arena to move garbage cans, a small trailer and a dumpster off the street.
A short time later, Souque flicks on her police cruiser’s flashing lights after spotting a teenager running a stop sign with his van.
The teenager stops the van and a passenger climbs onto the vehicle’s roof. McConnell and Greening arrive to help coax the passenger down. The driver is ticketed for running a stop sign.
Souque grew up in a rural area of southern Manitoba. She’s athletic and brings a cheerful personality to her work.
She was posted to Boissevain in the summer of 1999. When she’s not policing, she’s involved with community activities, such as playing recreational women’s hockey. This winter, she’ll also coach a girls hockey team.
When asked about the challenges of rural policing, she said that per capita, the number of officers posted in rural communities is the same as in cities. The difference is that the rural population is spread over larger areas, which means officers often have to travel greater distances when responding to calls.
But Souque said there are also advantages to policing a close-knit rural community like Boissevain. One of them is the opportunity to resolve minor offences involving youth without necessarily sending the offenders
to court.
There is a justice committee in Boissevain that can help mediate cases where youth have committed offences such as minor theft, mischief and vandalism.
Youths who go that route typically are given a chance to make amends by writing a letter of apology and doing community work. If they meet the conditions set for them, they can receive a conditional discharge and avoid a criminal record.
“It’s really well run,” said Souque, describing the justice committee. It helps offenders acknowledge what they’ve done while holding them accountable for their actions.
Because she grew up in rural Manitoba, adjusting to life in Boissevain was not a challenge for Souque.
As the Halloween night wears on, Greening returns to patrolling the downtown area on foot. He walks down an alley between two stores on main street. Hidden in the shadows of the alley, he witnesses a male tossing eggs at a storefront window. He radios the other officers and the culprit is soon caught.
Those caught chucking eggs at buildings are ordered to clean the mess the same night or to return the following day to do it.
By midnight, the downtown is quiet. There are only a few people wandering the streets.
Greening suspects some pranksters are waiting until the police turn in for the night before resuming their antics.
Volunteer patrollers return to their homes shortly after midnight. The police officers continue patrolling until after 3:30 a.m.
Despite the ominous presence of a full moon on Halloween this year, the night passes with mostly minor mischief in this typically quiet rural Manitoba town.
