N.B. village, lacking RCMP presence, hires security guard

May 24th, 2007 · No Comments

The RCMP isn’t embarrassed by the fact an Albert County village has hired a security guard to make up for lax policing.

In fact, the Mounties praise the move by Hillsborough village council.

“We’re not insulted by this at all,” Sgt. Derek Strong of J Division in Fredericton said Wednesday. “We are encouraged that council is taking steps to supplement security in the town.”

Hillsborough council hired the unarmed security guard after years of complaints that the RCMP’s scant presence in the village is doing little to prevent a wave of vandalism.

Mayor Donna Bennett called a break-in and deliberately set fire at a Royal Canadian Legion branch as “the proverbial last straw.”

The problem lies in the large area that must be patrolled by a handful of Mounties in Albert County. Their coverage area reaches from Riverview’s borders in the north, to Fundy National Park in the south, a stretch of about 100 kilometres.

“I know they are also frustrated that they are so understaffed,” Bennett conceded.

However, she added, something had to be done because the RCMP weren’t doing it. So council took the radical step and is now considering deducting the cost of the guard from the village’s policing bill.