Last week in Carman, RCMP Sergeant Bobby Baker updated area council members on the department's activities.

During this annual meeting, the Sergeant will inform councillors on what the department will focus on, and discuss other topics that may be of interest to the surrounding community, such as recent crime trends and staffing numbers.
 
"I let the council members in attendance know that we are presently fully staffed in the Carman area RCMP, that would be everywhere from Elm Creek to Gretna and small towns in between from Miami and Roland... we're fully staffed, we're up to strength," said Baker.
 
Cannabis laws and the impending legalization was also discussed.  

"We have been talking about the new cannabis laws that are in the process of being implemented at the federal level, and the impact that it will have with the province and the municipalities in terms of how it will affect policing and our ability to keep our communities healthy and safe."

In particular, Baker spoke about what RCMP will do to keep the roads safe.

"It's still preliminary discussions on how that's going to roll out, and what equipment and procedures that we're going to have at our disposal, from drug recognition to devices that we can use to detect and gather information about levels," said Baker.

He said RCMP training for detection is a federal matter, and the cost will be borne by the federal government.

Baker added the Cannabis Harm Prevention Act will give RCMP and police more authority when it comes to taking drivers suspected of drug use off the road.

"There's a new provincial act, the Cannabis Harm Prevention Act, that will give the police authorities and powers to use for suspected drug-involved drivers, and there's going to be new changes to the impaired driving laws," he explained.

Sexual assault, harassment, conduct, and consent was another point of discussion at the meeting.

Baker said the RCMP plans to visit area schools to have discussions with students on this topic.

"What we've proposed is having one of our specialized units from the RCMP at our headquarters in Winnipeg come to some of the high schools and have a talk with the young people about sexual consent and safety."

As for recent trends the department has been seeing, Baker said RCMP is looking at methamphetamine use and the impact it has on communities.

He noted a spike in methamphetamine use has led to an increase in property crimes.

"We're focusing our investigations on that and focusing on community safety," said Baker.