Sea to Sky RCMP visited Bowen Island at the end of March for a Town Hall to talk about policing in the community.
The event was part of a series Sea to Sky RCMP hosted in the four communities which compose its region – Whistler, Pemberton, Squamish, and Bowen Island. The goal of the evenings was to both gather feedback from the public, and to highlight the theme of the talks: “We are your RCMP.”
The Town Halls took the form of discussions, led by Sea to Sky RCMP Officer in Charge, Inspector Robert Dykstra. While Bowen’s event was sparsely attended by about a dozen people, there was still a lively exchange of ideas from the audience.
“I call it my ‘Small but mighty Town Hall’. We didn’t have as many people as I would have liked, but in some sense I feel like that might be an indicator that people are just generally happy with the service that they’re receiving – which seemed to be a common theme from the people who were there,” said Dykstra of the evening at Cates Hill Chapel.
Resident expectations for local police centered on accountability, visibility, and engagement in the community. “In order to be effective in the community policing context, our members need to get to know the people in the community as best they can, and integrate in that community. Part of that balance as well is that the people in the community recognize that we are your officers. We are here to serve you,” says Dykstra.
On this note, he says he’s been very impressed with the work of Bowen’s trio of officers: Corporal Adam Koehle, and Constables Robert Notari and Paul Towne. The group can frequently be seen out and about in the community, either at baseball games, driving around the Cove, appearing at town events, or checking in on the local restaurant scene on a Friday night.
“They’re doing amazing… The team that you have in Bowen is extremely strong,” says Dykstra. “They’re engaging, they’re friendly… I really let them do their own thing because I know that they do a good job.”
Of course the small size of Bowen’s detachment – the three uniformed officers and one clerk – does present its own challenges, particularly regarding scheduling. Currently all three members work together, which “allows them to do more community policing work… more cooperative types of work like traffic stops, and other things collectively,” explains Dykstra.
This strategy also ensures if a member is away for vacation or training then two officers are always on the island. While it also means there are periods where no officers are at the station (due to the 40-hour work week), at least two of the contingent are on call 24/7 for emergencies. Bowen’s relatively low call volume has allowed this approach to be successful on the island.
Population growth will spark change
The look of local policing could change in the future though, especially if Bowen’s population surpasses 5,000 in the next census in 2026 (currently it’s 4,256). Once this mark is hit, municipalities have to decide whether to retain the RCMP or form their own police force. If RCMP are kept, 70 per cent of the financial costs become municipal responsibility.
This benchmark brings new opportunity though, as the municipality can then decide if they want more officers than the minimum three, what priorities they want them to undertake, whether they want increased civilian staff, a new building, and more.
“It’s an interesting time when that comes, and I highly recommend municipalities that know they’re getting close to start thinking about what that could look like,” says Dykstra, adding he’s briefed Bowen on the potential for this scenario in the next few years.
A shift in the narrative people have of the RCMP as a primarily national organization is one of Dykstra’s main goals in engaging each of the Sea to Sky communities. “They think of Ottawa, they think of The Musical Ride, they think of counter-terrorism. They think of all these different things that are bigger – which are very important – but don’t always apply or have resonance at the local level,” he explained.
“We’re trying to remind people just like with other municipal forces… we’re not just the RCMP, we’re your RCMP,” says Dykstra. “Our members work and live in the communities that we serve… they have kids that go to school in those communities, they participate in events in those communities, they go to church, they participate in sports.”
Bowen’s RCMP Detachment can be found at 1017 Miller Road. Their telephone number is 604-947-0516, however in an emergency it is always recommended to dial 911.
