With the weather finally starting to warm up, the Dauphin RCMP said they'll start increasing the frequency of foot patrols in the downtown area.
S/Sgt. Mark Smaill, Dauphin RCMP Detachment Commander, said foot patrols help with a level of involvement that isn't possible with driving police cars around all day.
"Getting out on the street allows us to engage directly with community members, in a way that driving around in a patrol car doesn't...good opportunity for us to kind of hear from people, stop in at businesses and chat with the staff and business owners and see what concerns they have, and in terms of public safety, if there's anything we can work together on," said S/Sgt. Smaill.
The Dauphin RCMP has a good level of connection in the community, both with individuals who care about community safety, and with non-police organizations like Citizens on Patrol. S/Sgt. Smaill said these connections are vital to community safety.
"I've been in Dauphin just over a year now, and I've found that this is a great community to be a police officer in. You get a lot of support from the community, which we need. We need everybody working together on issues of public safety...we are 23 members strong in Dauphin, and we're in a community of 9,000 people, surrounding area a lot more, we really rely on the community to work together on issues of public safety," said S/Sgt. Smaill.
Though they won't be out all the time, S/Sgt. Smaill said especially with the warmer weather, you can expect to see the occasional RCMP officer out and about.
"Our goal is that we're going to be out there on a daily basis, maybe not a long period, but just checking in at different areas in the community, getting out on foot and talking to people," said S/Sgt. Smaill.
He also said the public is more than welcome to have a chat with any RCMP officer on foot patrols, especially about public safety concerns.
