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Quick response by Chilliwack RCMP evolving

Strategy launched last year when Chilliwack funded 10 new officers, and will continue in 2018
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Const. Cameron Nay checks out the serial number on a bike, with security officer and Chilliwack’s top cop. Const. Nay was deployed to the DT patrol that morning as a Quick Response officer. (Jennifer Feinberg/ The Progress file)

RCMP has plans to continue its Quick Response strategy established in Chilliwack about a year ago.

Quick Response is a “fluid concept” in officer deployment, which allows RCMP officers to be made available quickly during emerging situations, said Cpl. Mike Rail, spokesperson for Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment.

It’s part of the “intelligence-led” policing model adopted by UFVRD, and the designated officers change with each shift.

“We ID a problem and then we allocate resources,” Cpl. Rail said. “What is beautiful about this is that it’s never the same two members on Quick Response.”

It has also been an excellent way to train new RCMP members who can participate in these projects, Rail noted.

Foot patrols by RCMP, security and bylaw officers were another initiative geared to visibility and enforcement.

Boots on the streets had been identified as a strong need for Chilliwack, and daily patrols started up last summer, sometimes led by UFVRD officer in charge, Supt. Deanne Burleigh.

READ MORE: Foot patrols daily

“The quick response officers can be cut loose from other duties to be deployed where needed, such as on the foot patrol across downtown Chilliwack, or in the homeless camps.

The officers can also support other RCMP units when needed, like Crime Reduction.

The launch of Quick Response was an upshot of the hiring of 10 new officers last year as a boost to policing resources by City of Chilliwack with the 2017 budget.

“That gave us the resources to allow for two officers for each general duty watch to be available for quick response to deal with issues as they come up,” said Rail.

Another example was the creation of a Priority Offender Suppression Team to keep in contact with prolific offenders.

READ MORE: Visibility and enforcement


 

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Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
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