Edmonton, AB- A year ago, Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs put forward a motion to study the issues of rural crime and the effects it can have on communities.
The motion passed unanimously.
The report was made public last week by the mostly liberal committee, many conservatives and NDP MP’s said its not enough.
Today Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner MP Glen Motz, who was on the committee, joined Stubbs in Edmonton to discuss it.
The report, which Motz says was six months late, is just three pages long and encourages provinces to spend more on emergency-response services and dispatch centres.
According to the deputy commissioner for the Alberta RCMP there are approximately 230 unfilled RCMP positions in our province as of April 2017.
Motz, who was a police officer for over 30 years, says one of his biggest concerns when it comes to rural crime, is exactly what people should do to defend themselves while waiting for overstretched RCMP officers to arrive.
“You know people don’t know what they can and can’t do. Do you run away and hide? Do you confront and try to protect themselves and your family? What do you do? There needs to be some clarity of language.” He said “There needs to be some clarity of direction for both police and crown on how to address those issues.”
Motz also said that his party believes in tougher action against repeat offenders and a greater use of electronic monitoring
