The Town of Hanna council discussed crime prevention in the community with the local detachment commander at their Nov. 26 information meeting. Councillors heard the second quarter crime stats update from Sgt. Rob Welsman (right). Rural Alberta Report/Screenshot

The Town of Hanna council discussed crime prevention in the community with the local detachment commander at their Nov. 26 information meeting.

Readers should note information meetings are usually held for informational purposes only, with important resolutions or other decisions performed at regular council meetings.

Councillors heard the second quarter crime stats update from Sgt. Rob Welsman. Welsman began his presentation by noting the Hanna detachment along with the rest of the region has a new criminal operations officer, Assistant Comm. Wayne Nichols, whom Welsman noted he’s worked with before. Welsman stated Nichols is very experienced and will bring a lot of positive results to his position.

Welsman informed councillors a new non-emergency public phone service has been launched which citizens can use to discuss non-emergencies. The system requires only the dialling of 310 for issues of a non-urgent nature. Emergencies should always be reported through 911 he added.

The sergeant noted that the Hanna RCMP detachment has started its own social media page which offers information and items of interest to the community. Welsman stated the page could include things like a lost dog being discovered plus information the RCMP would like to share with the community. He pointed out though that this doesn’t replace emergency systems such as the alert ready system.

Welsman also stated the RCMP have been working with the new bylaw officer recently hired by the Town of Hanna; the sergeant said things have been going very well.

Welsman provided councillors with a tabulation of second quarter stats for various police responses in the detachment area, which he noted includes the Special Areas. He observed mental health related calls continue to be noticeable along with dropped or false 911 calls. Welsman stated the 911 issue appears to be related to an infrastructure problem though.

Police also noticed an uptick in reported assaults in the detachment area in 2025; Welsman tempered that observation though by adding the increased numbers are still in line with some past years. During discussion it was noted some assault reports may involve the same people and may even occur on the same day, but are separate incidents.

It was observed that motor vehicle collisions have also increased somewhat.

The sergeant stated Hanna detachment members are obligated to keep track of individuals in the community that have court-ordered conditions on them, such as not to possess or consume alcohol.

Staffing at the Hanna detachment is in pretty good shape Welsman reported. He said the detachment has one member out on a maternity leave and one vacancy but otherwise has good staffing, especially compared to some other regions. He said work is being done to fill the vacancy.

As councillors discussed what appeared to be a drop in spousal or family violence calls, Welsman stated that the Hanna community has resources to address such issues and pointed out a victim services organization is very important in this regard.

Councillors accepted Welsman’s report as information.