By Clark Stork

Few concerns raised at Melfort RCMP open house

Mar 23, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The Melfort RCMP hosted a public meeting Thursday in conjunction with several presentations on child exploitation, fraud prevention and police dog services.

A small crowd attended the open house portion of the agenda with minimal concerns being brought forward by the public during a question and answer session. Staff Sgt. Deon Marquis headlined the meeting. He said no news is positive.

“The impression I’m getting is Melfort RCMP are doing a good job,” he said. “Our initiatives are appropriate; we’re out there trying to prevent crime, prevent drunk driving, we’re visible and highly engaged in our communities.”

Marquis outlined local crime statistics from 2016 to 2017. Overall calls for service were up by almost 700 but property crimes were down from 614 in 2016 to 478 last year. Marquis expected questions on rights to protect property to come from the floor stemming from events in the Western side of Saskatchewan. Marquis stopped short of saying the Northeast isn’t immune to the issue but said there has not been many reports of rural crime.

“In all fairness right now, we don’t have those problems. It doesn’t mean we won’t; every incident is different. For someone to ask what they can and can’t do that’s left for the lawyers to decide. It’s hard to get a true and fast answer to that question,” Marquis said.

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Marquis also provided traffic enforcement plans, initiatives to being more visual in schools and school zones, and said officers are taking initiatives to curb rural crime issues during the open house.

clark.stork@jpbg.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork