The City of Grande Prairie is continuing to look into making it easier to report certain crimes. City council members have voted to express their interest to the RCMP to bring online, non-emergency police reporting to the area.
Mayor Bill Given says this kind of system is used in some cases where it’s not necessary to have an officer come out, like in the case of an insurance claim.
“In other areas of Canada and British Columbia, there are certain types of crimes or issues that you can report via an online form which is obviously more efficient for the customer and ensures that those valuable police resources are sent to the right types of calls.”
While this kind of system is not yet available in this area, Given says he plans to write a letter to RCMP K Division command letting them know that they would like to use it when it is created.
He adds that this step is similar to the one the city made when bringing the collision reporting centre to the area, which was also the first of its kind.
“That was something that was a first for an RCMP jurisdiction and it was the result of about five years of lobbying and advocacy with the government and the RCMP command structure and it really starts with saying, ‘hey, this is something that we would like to pursue.'”
There is no timeline yet for when the online system could become available.
