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There’s a New Constable in Town
There’s a new RCMP Constable in town and his name is Simon Ross.
Constable Ross moved into a newly created and unique position within the Cochrane RCMP detachment in July of 2008.
His jurisdiction is the Municipality of Rocky View and he reports to the Cochrane office.
Which doesn’t sound unique until you hear… the rest of the story
The creation of Constable Ross’ position is the result of a concerted and cooperative effort between concerned citizens,
elected officials, and the RCMP. In April of 2007 a community safety meeting was held at the Springbank High School.
The meeting, initiated and organized by Christine Pennell and facilitated by Neil Buckley, was held in response to incidents of youth violence in the Springbank area.
During the meeting it became apparent that the RCMP’s resources were inadequate to effectively police the rapidly growing District of Rocky View.
In 1983, there were twelve RCMP Officers working the district as opposed to nine at the time of the meeting.
The concerns of the citizens were heard clearly that night by Gordon Branson – Councilor, Division 3, Municipal District of Rocky View.
Branson presented the situation to the Municipality of Rocky View and proposed that the Municipality fund an additional RCMP officer.
The proposal was accepted marking the first time the municipality has funded an RCMP officer
Constable Ross currently works out of Cochrane but will move to an office at the Springbank Park for All Seasons once renovations are completed in early 2009.
Mitch Yurak, Councilor – Division 2, spearheaded the search for a suitable location and chose SPFAS due to its central location
Speaking with Constable Ross regarding his new position he stressed that it will be a priority to
“communicate with and address the needs of the community through interaction with groups such as the Springbank Police Advisory Committee, the schools, and individual community members.”
As for problems to focus on he commented, “Traffic, breaking and entering, vandalism, and drugs are areas of concern”.
Please join the Springbank Police Advisory Committee in welcoming Constable Ross to our community.
And once the office is open at SPFAS, stop by and say hello.
Written by: Rod Pertson
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