In 2010, Squamish's Community Police Station closed for repairs. Fourteen months later, Squamish RCMP are hankering to get its doors open again.
The Community Police Office (CPO), which opened in 2005, was shut down in November 2010 after a RCMP Departmental Security building review reported that security issues with the facility needed to be addressed. The upgrade bills for the building, which is being leased by the District of Squamish, would come out of the municipality's pocket - money that wasn't available at that time, Squamish Mayor Rob Kirkham said.
In an email to The Chief, RCMP Staff Sgt. Guy Pollock wrote that he wants to see the downtown venue re-opened as soon as possible.
The volunteer-driven facility provided services such as supporting citizen crime watches, block watches and crime prevention programs, along with staples like Crime Stoppers and anti-fraud education.
Staff at the community office also helped with criminal record checks, applications for pardons and reporting of minor motor vehicle accidents. Some of the volunteers spoke Punjabi, which was an important gateway into the relationship between RCMP and Squamish's South Asian community, Pollock wrote.
"The CPO in this, as in any, community is a 'hub' for community-based crime prevention programs and the volunteers who deliver them," Pollock stated.
With the services forced to move to the RCMP detachment on Finch Drive, the need for transportation to reach the station has cut off access to clients and retired volunteers, he noted. The closest public bus stop is approximately 600 metres away, beside Wal-Mart.
Besides the positive partnership the downtown office nurtured between police, the public and local community agencies, the facility also saved time, Pollock added.
From 2008 to '10, the CPO's subpoena service issued approximately 100 subpoenas a year. The low-risk, routine tasks preformed by a CPO employee shaved hundreds of hours off general-duty police officers' workloads, Pollock stated, freeing them up to focus on service calls and front-line investigations.
District officials are working on a proposal outlining future options for the CPO, Kirkham said, adding that he expects it will be before council within the next two months. The report will take a global look at the issue, examining costs and whether the relocation of the office's services to the RCMP detachment has had a negative impact.
The issue is also likely to come up for discussion during 2012 budget deliberations. Kirkham said he didn't know how much money the upgrades would take.
Tony Bortolotto, owner of Chicago Hair Gallery next to the community office, said the CPO should re-open as long as it functions as it should. Either way, he said he would like to see more of a police presence in Squamish's downtown.
Matthew Lucas, who owns Lucas Teas on the other side of the office, said he would like to see all the store fronts in the downtown open, to help create a bustling atmosphere.
