SARM sounds alarm on rural crime, calling for more police, bail reforms

The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities is worried about the level of crime in rural communities.

“It certainly is a huge concern,” said Bill Huber, the association’s acting president.

Huber’s comments come after a series of robberies in small Saskatchewan centres. Joseph “Joey” Desjarlais, who was wanted by police in connection with a string of armed robberies in Yorkton, Melfort and Wadena, died after a chase with Saskatchewan RCMP officers on Tuesday, though circumstances of his death are unclear.

Saskatchewan has been ranked as the worst in the country for crime over the past 25 years, with a rural crime rate 6.4 times higher than crime in urban centres.

Huber said crime is disappointing for everyone who lives in rural Saskatchewan.

“Well, certainly it’s frustrating; frustrating for SARM and our board of directors and our staff, but it’s also frustrating for our ratepayers that that live and farm and conduct businesses in these rural communities,” said  Huber.

“They’re scared to leave equipment in the field at night with toolboxes. They have to continually lock stuff up or move at home in the nights, and it’s not only just crime; it’s sometimes vandalism too.”

Huber said the association has always maintained that more tools and resources are needed in order to combat rural crime, including more Mounties. He said he recently met with Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, who said the force is dealing with a shortage of officers, particularly in rural Saskatchewan.

“When these criminals – I’ll call them – are out and about, searching around in rural communities looking for something that they can steal or vandalize, they notice that there’s no police presence, so that’s where they’re  going to act,” Huber said.

“A visual presence of a police cruiser up and down some of these rural roads at different times of the day and even in the night, maybe it would deter some of these guys from from committing crimes and being in rural areas.”

Huber said Saskatchewan needs roughly 130 to 150 more RCMP officers. He said rural residents are noticing the lack of police on the roads.

“They’re upset and concerned that there isn’t enough police presence in these communities,” he explained. “They haven’t got the staff to properly be in the towns and villages and in the RMs with that presence and visual appearance of these cruisers and staff.”

Huber said he is not optimistic the crime rate will go down anytime soon, and suggested changes to the court system are also needed in order to keep offenders in custody.

“It’s pretty frustrating for our RCMP officers and then our city police and municipal police that when they do catch some of these guys and these criminals and they get them arrested, that they’re released and out in the public again,” Huber said.

Huber said SARM will be lobbying the federal government to make changes to the bail system.

“The police are catching these criminals, and unfortunately, they’re being released within hours. And according to the RCMP statistics, roughly 44 per cent of people charged with homicide were on conditions – bail, parole or probation – at the time that they committed that crime,” said Huber.

“These individuals have to be kept in custody and not released.”

–with files from 980 CJME’s Nicole Garn