RCMP detachment shouldn't be on outskirts of town says officer

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

The Town of Yarmouth RCMP Detachment is located in the town, although just barely. From the window of the detachment you can see the town limits sign.

That and the fact that the detachment has outgrown its building are two reasons why a suggestion has been made that the detachment office should be in a more centrally located part of the town. It’s a suggestion that was made at a recent meeting of the Yarmouth Development Corporation, which has decided it is worthy of consideration.

Dave Whiting of the YDC says they’re going to include the suggestion in a study that examines ways to revitalize the downtown, although he admits it’s not a decision the YDC really has a say in.

RCMP Constable Mark Connell was the one who raised the issue on behalf of the town RCMP at the YDC meeting.

“The discussion came up with respect to policing issues, visibility in the downtown core. The recommendation I made was that we should have a new home and it should be centrally located in the town,” Connell said, adding where the detachment is located now, they’re practically out of sight, out of mind.

The town RCMP do have a satellite office on Main Street, but Connell says having the full detachment somewhere central could increase opportunities for foot patrols and put the detachment more in the public’s eye.

“There would even be more visibility just with the cruisers,” he said, as they’d be coming and going from a central location.

The other issue that should be considered, Const. Connell says, is the detachment has outgrown its building.

“The original design of the building was for a water pump station, it belonged to the Town of Yarmouth for some time before it was turned into an RCMP office,” he says. “With the additional resources we’ve added, the number of members, technology, servers, computers, we’ve outgrown it.”

One issue that has been tossed around over the years is amalgamating the town and rural detachments. Connell says that’s an issue for the politicians to throw around, but he adds the two detachments already do a lot of cooperation between the themselves.