Bay Roberts council and RCMP discuss region’s policing and social services needs

By Mark Squibb

Trinity Conception RCMP Sgt. Kenney Maher was in Bay Roberts council chambers last week, and one item on the agenda was the Province’s decision to set aside money for mobile crisis units this year.
“This talk has been happening round the table for many years, with many discussions with the RCMP and with the joint councils,” said Mayor Walter Yetman. “RCMP resources are limited, and sometimes resourses are tied up dealing with issues that should be dealt with by a mobile crisis unit.”
The Province budgeted $1.5 million to help bring mobile crisis response teams to Sheshatshiu, Stephenville, Twillingate, New World Island, Burin, Clarenville, and Conception Bay North.
Yetman said he hopes the funding will help alleviate some of the pressures faced by the RCMP.
The Harbour Grace and Bay Roberts detachments have received a combined 111 mental health calls so far this year.
“So, the news that there could potentially be a mobile crisis unit here is certainly welcome news to us, and should be for the community” said Maher, who agreed such a team is better fit to respond to mental health calls.
Maher said that even with a team in place, police may still need to attend mental health calls. The expectation, however, is that police won’t have to be remain at the scene as long if a mobile unit is also there.
“If it’s only the police responding, which is what you see in a lot of rural Newfoundland, one or two police officers could be tied up for four, five, six eight hours,” said Maher, who explained that oftentimes officers have to bring the individual to a hospital and wait for them to be seen by a doctor.
Year to date, the Bay Roberts detachment has received 703 calls for service of all kinds, while the Harbour Grace detachment has received 947, for a total of 1,650, an increase of 157 calls, or about 10 percent, from this time last year.
“Calls for service continue to increase, and that been the status quo since I’ve been here,” said Maher. “We are seeing increase for calls for service in this area, and its no secret that we are asking for additional resources. We need additional resources in this district as far as I’m concerned.”
District RCMP, said Maher, have requested two additional officers and two additional support staff to help with the increasing workload. They are still awaiting a response from government.
“This area needs attention,” agreed Mayor Yetman. “People are struggling in this area. They’ve identified CBN as an area for this mobile crisis unit because there are problems… The data proves it.”
Maher said the concerns are not unique to Trinity Conception.
“I’m sure there are many areas in the province that need additional funding and need additional resources,” said the officer. “But I don’t think we can ignore the face that the statistics alone for this area over the past few years indicate, in black and white, that we do need additional resources.”
Other topics covered by the RCMP’s meeting with council included impaired driving statistics. Maher said officers have laid nine impaired driving charges, and several more are pending. He expects more in the months to come.
Maher also expressed his thanks to volunteer fire department and local ground search and rescue members for their willingness to help the detachment when the need arises, such as vehicle collisions on the Veterans Memorial Highway. He said the two stations respond to an average of about 25 to 30 accidents on the stretch between Carbonear and Bay Roberts annually.
Yetman also noted the provincial government earmarked some $400,000 in Budget 2024 to aid volunteer fire departments responding to calls outside municipal boundaries, such as on highways.
“Volunteer firefighters go above and beyond and do things beyond what we would call standard volunteer practise,” allowed Mayor Yetman. “This shows volunteers that their work is respected and appreciated.”
Yetman noted some $340,000 has been earmarked for departments across the province, while $60,000 has been allocated to study what volunteer firefighters do above and beyond the call of duty. He applauded both Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL) and the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Fire Services for their work in lobbying and advocating for the funding.