Chestermere residents may have noticed a greater presence from the city’s Peace Officers over the last few months.
“Our resources are increased, we’re fully staffed,” said Sgt. Trever Bowman.
He said that they have also adjusted their schedules so that there are peace officers on duty more hours of the day.
“We’ve adjusted our schedules so we’re covering more hours,” said Bowman.
“We looked at what our busier times are and how we can help and assist our partners such as the RCMP,” he said.
Being fully staffed and working longer hours has had a big impact on enforcement in the city.
The Municipal Enforcement quarterly report for Quarter 3 encompassing July to September of 2018 there was an increase of more than 100 infractions for that period.
“We’re encompassing busier times and we’re able to hit on some of the issues that we’re seeing consistently,” said Bowman, “so that makes a big difference.”
Bowman said that the increase in citations over the quarter doesn’t indicate an increase in problems in the city and that it is simply the result of their more targeted enforcement.
“Overall Chestermere is an extremally safe city,” he said.
“I don’t think…residents have anything to be concerned about at all.
“Just exercise common sense, lock up your cars lock up your houses and look out for each other,” said Bowman.
An area that has seen some extra attention has been traffic violations such as problem stop signs and areas with frequent complaints.
“We’ll concentrate on that one specific area for a couple days by providing a high presence,” said Bowman.
Their goal is to educate before enforcement wherever possible although Bowman said there are times when moving directly to enforcement of the bylaws is necessary.
One instance in Quarter Three that stands out to Bowman of an example where education and attempts to resolve and issue without charges was an animal complaint they received.
“How it came is was a neighbourhood complaint where a resident was concerned about a pitbull had been running at large, and were concerned that it may be vicious,” said Bowman.
After investigation the dog was found to have been deemed vicious by the City of Calgary.
“We spoke to the gentleman, telling him we got the details of the events surrounding his dog and they were concerning to us,” said Bowman.
The owner was told he needed to follow Chestermere’s vicious dog bylaw.
Unfortunately, Bowman said there was complete noncompliance from the dog’s owner which led to charges being laid.
“He’s going to appear in Strathmore Provincial court on some pretty serious charges under the animal control bylaw that could have been resolved,” said Bowman.
“Ignoring us doesn’t make the problem go away, and we’re certainly not going to sit back and wait until someone gets seriously bit or injured,” he said.
Moving forward, Bowman said that their focus is on the enforcement of bylaws and traffic safety.
“Those are our key areas and those are the ones we concentrate on,” he said.
They are also reviewing their service levels this year in an effort to increase service to the city.
“The ultimate goal is to provide a better service to our tax payers,” said Bowman.
