DRUGS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM

Fighting crime and major issues of drugs, thefts, break-ins and
traffic are top priorities for the County of Stettler and Stettler RCMP.

"We have a serious problem with illegal drugs in the Stettler
region," said Stettler RCMP Sergeant Rowland Schmidt, speaking to
county council at its regular meeting June 11.

Members of council are very concerned with illegal drugs that are
affecting many people and many communities in the region.

"When students as young as Grade 5 are dealing with drugs in schools,
we have a problem," said Councillor Earl Marshall.

Dealing with drugs will remain an issue of utmost importance for
local police, according to RCMP.

"We will always have drugs as a priority," said Sergeant Schmidt.

"We have to respond to the drug issue."

Local police officers are very keen to tackle the drug problem, he said.

Marijuana, crack and cocaine are prominent in the region, with some
crystal meth, said Sergeant Schmidt.

Drug Awareness Resistance Education (DARE) program in local schools
is helping to teach Grade-5 students about the negative affects of
using drugs, he said.

Rising problems with drugs could likely be related to the sharp 30
per cent increase in reported property crimes of break-ins, thefts
and possession of stolen property in 2007 over 2006.

"The reasons we could have more property crimes may be because our
population is increasing, we have more drug issues and property
crimes help pay for drugs, and we have more transient people," said
Sergeant Schmidt.

However, the increase in property crime may not be true reflection,
said one councilor.

"A lot of minor property crimes in rural areas are not reported to
police by people,' said Councillor Dave Grover.

"We encourage everyone to report all crimes and suspicious activity,"
said Sergeant Schmidt.

"We want to deal with property crime and theft."

Anyone with information on any criminal or suspicious activity is
requested to immediately phone Stettler RCMP at 742-3382 or Crime
Stoppers at 1-800-877-TIPS (2477) or on the website at tipssubmit.com.

Traffic and pedestrians are other concerns of county council and Stettler RCMP.

"We have stepped up enforcement for impaired driving and speeding,"
said Sergeant Schmidt.

He is pleased that the number of collisions in this rural area is low
despite the high population.

"We are happy with the low number of fatal and injury-related
collisions," he said.

Sergeant Schmidt noted that for violations on Highway 12 and Highway
56 in the county, officers are registering the location as the County
of Stettler as that would funnel the fines into Stettler county.

Councillor Blake Chapman will also present the county concerns to the
Stettler RCMP community advisory committee as the county representative.