Northern hamlet says gun violence, drug crime triggered state of local emergency

Residents of a small northern Alberta hamlet don't feel safe amidst what officials describe as an increase in brazen gun violence and criminal activity.

The Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 declared a state of local emergency in Calling Lake, Alta. on Wednesday, following what the reeve says has been six months of increasing safety issues. 

"People firing guns right within the residential areas for reasons of intimidation, or people pointing guns at people when they're breaking into their homes to steal things as part of this gang activity that's going on," Reeve Marcel Auger said in an interview Friday.

Calling Lake, which is about 200 kilometres north of Edmonton, has about 700 residents year-round, though the population can grow to 3,000 during the summer. The nearest RCMP detachment is in Athabasca, 60 kilometres south.

"People don't feel safe in their own homes and I'm part of that group," said Opportunity councillor for Calling Lake Cheri Courtorielle. 

She said many people have given up on reporting crime because it can take about 45 minutes for officers from Athabasca to arrive, if they have members available to respond to a call. 

Both she and Auger said there's also a major issue with intimidation and, in some cases, retaliation against residents who do report crimes.

"Even during the day there's people driving around with guns in their laps. It's clearly intimidation and it's working," she said.

The state of emergency will be in effect for seven days and will be reassessed by council to determine if it should be renewed, Auger said.

Lobbying for a local detachment

Council is hopeful the declaration will attract the attention of the RCMP and both provincial and federal politicians, prompting more police resources to be assigned to the community. 

Auger and Courtorielle said Calling Lake has been trying to get its own detachment for years, and have even offered up a space for a police station and said they're willing to provide accommodations for staff.

In the meantime, Auger said the municipal district has hired its own security personnel to patrol at night and to report issues to the RCMP, and that they are in the process of setting up a security camera system that will cover hotspots for crime.

He said they're also in the process of buying additional hours with the RCMP— a program where Mounties from other detachments are brought in to work extra hours in Calling Lake. 

Minister of Public Safety Mike Ellis was travelling out-of-province on Friday and wasn't available for an interview about the situation in Calling Lake, a spokesperson said. 

Auger said the municipal district has plans to meet with police, community groups and their MLA next week, and they also hope representatives from the Ministry of Justice are also able to attend.

He said Bigstone Cree Nation, which has a reserve bordering the hamlet, has taken on advocating the federal government for more support. 

Auger added that the RCMP has already met with the community several times in recent months, and that the Mounties seem keen to help. 

RCMP working with community

Alberta RCMP Cpl. Mathew Howell said the 15 officers that work out of the Athabasca detachment have a large area to cover, and that they are aware of Calling Lake's safety concerns and are working with the community on them.

"The Athabasca detachment commander is in communication with the MD of opportunity and is being proactive with helping out and helping them to feel safer in their community," Howell said.

He said RCMP have been proactive in the region by reassigning an officer to do proactive policing — such as setting up high value items as bait in order to arrest people that try to steal them — and by authorizing overtime work to increase police presence in Calling Lake. 

Howell said statistics for violent crime in the Calling Lake area aren't showing any significant increases, and that many of the concerns reported to the Athabasca detachment relate to property crime.

The RCMP did not provide violent crime statistics for the Athabasca detachment, but did share property crime data that shows little fluctuation in recent years.

But Courtorielle said the statistics don't reflect what's really happening because people are too frightened to call the police.  

"You don't see the fear on a piece of paper," she said.