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Town of Castor receives Coronation RCMP Detachment acting commander as delegation during Feb. 24th meeting

Cpl. Chad Salmi came to introduce himself as well as to see what priorities council had for the RCMP
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By Kevin J. Sabo

For the Advance

Town of Castor council received a special delegation during their Feb. 24th meeting.

Cpl. Chad Salmi, the detachment commander of the Consort RCMP and acting commander of the Coronation Detachment, which covers Castor, came to council to introduce himself as well as to see what priorities council had for the RCMP for the coming year.

“My biggest concern is we don’t see them around here enough,” said Coun. Trudy Kilner.

In response, Salmi said that he is currently looking at a business case to have force housing in Castor as a way to attract more experienced members to the Coronation Detachment.

Other concerns voiced by council included the drivers in Castor treating stop signs as “optional,” - speeding especially in school zones. Concern about rural crime were also raised.

“School zones are generally a concern for every town,” stated Salmi, “And rural crime comes up a lot. It’s something we are definitely going to look at.”

One question inevitably brought up was the provincial government’s new police funding model, which will see the Town of Castor paying around $20,000 this year to contribute to policing in the rural regions.

Salmi told council that the zone Castor is in is slated to receive nine new members of the first 75 being taken on under the new funding model, however those positions will be split between various RCMP detachments, including Major Crimes.

“We probably won’t see anyone,” Salmi told council.

The RCMP detachments across the province are currently setting their Annual Performance Planning goals for 2020, and currently two goals for the zone, including Coronation and Consort Detachments, are decreasing the rural crime rate by seven per cent and enhancing public confidence and engagement with the RCMP.

The exchange with Salmi was received by council as information.