After a long hiatus this column is back and glad of it! It sure is nice to be writing in the sunshine.

The Two Hills RCMP recently hosted a Town Hall at the Rec Centre in Two Hills. Thank you to all of those who were able to attend. For those who were not there, here’s a bit of a rundown about what we talked about:

• During the community consultations held earlier this year, we heard that people want us to focus on reducing crime, enforcing traffic laws, and being visible in the community.
• To help reduce crime, we open a file and actively monitor all offenders in our area who are on curfew conditions. These folks can expect us to show up regularly to talk to them and offer assistance to access services such as addiction treatment. They can also expect to be charged if they are found not to be following their conditions.
• To help enforce traffic laws, I sent all of the members to radar/laser training and made sure that they are all trained in the use of the roadside screening device. They have been making good use of their training!
• The members being out doing traffic has helped with visibility in the community, but the members are also doing a great job of getting involved. I coached baseball again this year and it looks like I will be coaching basketball (two teams) starting shortly. Other members at the detachment have been helping with hockey, Can Skate, and a weekly sports nights. We are all currently growing moustaches in support of Movember (team name “Stetsons and Staches”)!
• There were a lot of questions and comments about the current government’s position on a provincial police service. The RCMP is a contractor and our role isn’t to advocate to keep being the provincial police in Alberta. With that said, the proposals made by the current government can reasonably be seen as likely to close the Two Hills Detachment which would result in the sale of the Government of Canada-owned housing in both Two Hills and Andrew. The Two Hills Detachment area would then be policed from hubs such as St. Paul, Vegreville, and Fort Saskatchewan and the members would reside in or near those communities.

Speeder of the month is a male who was literally caught with his pants down! During a recent patrol, police encountered a vehicle travelling at 154km/h in a 100km/h zone. When pulled over, the driver explained that he was not wearing pants because he had spilled coffee on them and he was in a hurry to go and dry them. A summons was served on the driver and he will have an opportunity to tell his story to a judge.

The Fraud of the Month is the lottery scam. For example, you receive a call from the STARS lottery telling you that you’ve won a prize! The scammers then attempt to convince you that you need to send them some money in order to collect the prize. Often they ask for the numbers from pre-paid cards such as Visas, i-Tunes, etc. 100% of these calls are scams! There is no legitimate lottery that would ask you to pay them money or to send them gift cards. If you suspect you are being scammed, please hang up the phone and contact the RCMP. If you see someone who you think may be in the process of being scammed (for example purchasing an excessive number of gift cards), talk to them about it or call the RCMP. The Canadian Anti- Fraud Centre has more information about known scams: http://www. antifraudcentrecentreantifraude.ca/ index-eng.htm

As always, you can contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with comments about what you want to see in the next column.

Sgt. Robert Daisley,
Detachment Commander, Two Hills RCMP