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The Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa will not join the community safety officer program this year being headed up by Carberry, Reeve Dave Kreklewich said.
Oakland-Wawnesa council decided against the program due to concerns over cost-benefit, Kreklewich told the Sun in late August. Council decided the community wouldn't get enough use to justify spending for it.
"There's the money side of it, because we're a smaller municipality, how much exposure are we going to get in the individual?" Kreklewich said. "Is it just going to be a visual thing where you have a drive-through every once a week or something, so people can see that there's a safety officer?"
Kreklewich said that crime has been relatively tame, and council feels there would not be a big enough boon to the community from investing in the safety officer. With the funds of a small, rural municipality, he said they decided the money should be spent elsewhere.
"Council didn't think that at this time, that was what we wanted to be spending money on," Kreklewich said.
The Town of Carberry is spearheading a community safety officer program this year to promote the presence of law enforcement. Mayor Ray Muirhead previously told the Sun the town planned to hire its first safety officer by the end of the summer. Carberry officials are looking to attract nearby rural communities to join the program and split the costs.
Kreklewich, the reeve of a neighbouring community that had been asked to join, said a primary concern for the council was whether Oakland-Wawanesa would get enough facetime with the new officer.
He added that the community is not crying out for extra law enforcement like some other areas in Westman -- he said that civilians keep a close watch and are already vigilant.
"Rural crime ... I don't know if it's increasing, but we don't have a lot. And this community, like our size, everybody can see who's going around, sort of thing. So people know if you're a stranger or not, (and they) keep an eye moreso on that, and maybe sometimes too much."
In the back of peoples' minds, as well, is that the Blue Hills RCMP detachment is pretty close to the top side of the Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa territory, he said, so the community feels that police are nearby.
Community safety officers are empowered by provincial legislation in several ways, such as to direct traffic, pull over a vehicle, take intoxicated people into custody and carry items like handcuffs, a baton and an aerosol weapon such as pepper spray.
Municipality of Souris-Glenwood Mayor Duane Davison previously told the Sun that the safety officer program will start up in the area. He said the community wants to join the program to support the job of RCMP in the area.
Muirhead previously told the Sun that the program is meant to introduce a local security presence that is a reliable person to call. He explained that RCMP officers can be hours away when a call comes in -- and that gap could be fixed by introducing the community safety officer.
"We just want their visibility and their presence in town," Muirhead told the Sun last year. "That's all we need, just to know that somebody is in town, driving around, that they're visible."
To launch the program, Carberry would need to pay for startup costs like the uniform, equipment, training, vehicle, office space and salary of a community safety officer. The cost would be somewhere up to $150,000, said the mayor. Carberry is looking to attract nearby communities and share the service.
The program has been praised by locals in Portage La Prairie, where safety officers were introduced in 2024. A salon owner told the Sun last year it has made their mostly-female staff, and their customers, feel more comfortable.