Oceanside RCMP Sgt. Stephen Rose is being promoted to inspector.
Town of Qualicum Beach CAO Daniel Sailland mentioned the promotion when Rose appeared before council at its regular meeting on Oct. 6, as a delegation to report on the detachment’s first- and second-quarter statistics for Parksville Qualicum Beach.
Council congratulated Rose and also thanked him for the excellent service he has provided the community.
Rose, who eventually will be re-assigned to the City of Colwood, said he won’t be moving just yet.
In his update to town council, Rose indicated the Oceanside detachment currently has 38 members. The town pays for eight officers while the City of Parksville subsidizes 17 officers and the Regional District of Nanaimo pays for 13 officers. However, Rose said, not all 38 officers are always available.
From Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 this year, the RCMP’s overall calls for services have gone up five per cent from 10,196 calls in 2020 to 10,702 in 2021.
Compared to Parksville and electoral areas in the RDN, crime numbers in Qualicum Beach are significantly less, said Rose. One of them is theft from vehicles. The number has gone down significantly from 51 in 2020 to just 20.
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Coun. Scott Harrison was pleased to see the huge decrease which he said “is massive.”
“Credit should be given to the citizens,” said Rose, who currently is the acting staff sergeant at the Oceanside RCMP. “We made very, very concerted effort through public education and that weekly press release to identify where persons are being victimized solely because they left their vehicles unlocked. And through that constant messaging, that reminder, I think that individuals have taken ownership for that and are more likely now to remove valuables from plain view and from sight, and additionally locking their vehicles. So we’re starting to the benefit of that education.”
In the second quarter of this year, the RCMP attended 81 crashes that included one fatality, and also handed 14 impaired roadside prohibitions and two criminal code impaired drivers.
In terms of crime reduction, Rose said they are monitoring 11 individuals in the community that have substantial court order conditions that they deemed to be a high risk of re-offending. They also successfully executed a search warrant that led to the seizure of a significant amount of drugs.