District Profile Clarenville-Bonavista District

Contact

RCMP Clarenville-Bonavista District
174 Trans Canada Highway
Clarenville NL A5A 1Y3
Telephone 709 466-3211
Facsimile 709 466-3214

RCMP Bonavista Detachment
335 Confederation Drive
P.O. Box 850
Bonavista NL A0C 1B0
Telephone 709 468-7333
Facsimile 709 468-1465

General

RCMP Clarenville-Bonavista District was developed during the implementation of the District Policing concept within “B” Division in January, 1998. The District consists of two detachments, Clarenville and Bonavista, that are responsible for a geographical area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. The District has 22 uniformed police officers and three District Assistants to serve a population of about 27,000 living in 77 communities. Calls for service in 2004 generated 4,339 files.

The District Commander (Staff Sergeant) and the Operations NCO (Sergeant) work from Clarenville Detachment. There are also two Team Leaders (Corporal) at Clarenville Detachment, 11 investigators (Constable) and two District Assistants, for a total strength of 15 regular members and two public servants. Bonavista Detachment houses one Team, which consists of the Team Leader (Corporal) and six investigators (Constable). The third District Assistant works in the Bonavista office.

In addition there are three independent units housed in the Clarenville office. They are the Area Management Team East, which consists of one Superintendent and one Staff Sergeant, a Forensic Identification Section of one Corporal and one Constable and a unit of Traffic Services East, which is made up of two Constables.

Clarenville Detachment is responsible for 43 of the communities with a combined population of about 17,000 people. Clarenville is the largest community at a population of 5,200. Clarenville is situated on the Trans Canada Highway about 200 kilometres northwest of St. John’s. The geographic boundaries of Clarenville Detachment are most easily defined using roadways as a reference point. The eastern boundary of the detachment begins on the Trans Canada Highway at the Little Harbour East access road. The western boundary is on the Trans Canada Highway at the eastern entrance to Terra Nova National Park. The southern boundary is on Route 210 (the Burin Peninsula Highway) at Route 214. The northern boundary is on Route 230 at the community of Charleston.

Clarenville is the major service centre for the surrounding area including the Bonavista peninsula. As such it has many federal and provincial government officetuated in the town. The federal offices include Human Resources Development Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard. Provincial offices present include the Newfoundland and Labrador Women’s Correctional Centre, Health and Community Services offices and various offices of the Department of Works, Services and Transportation. There is also a modern hospital in Clarenville. Other industries include lumber mills, fishing and a shipyard. The nearby communities of Arnold’s Cove and Come By Chance are home to an oil refinery and an oil transshipment terminal. The Bull Arm fabrication site is also nearby. This facility constructed the Hibernia oil production platform. The Port of Come By Chance is the second busiest port in Canada in terms of tonnage arriving and departing.

Bonavista Detachment provides police services to the balance of the 34 communities and population of 10,000. The Detachment is situated in the Town of Bonavista, which is located at the northeast tip of the Bonavista Peninsula. Bonavista is the second largest community in the District, with a population of about 4,000. The Detachment is responsible for policing all of the Bonavista Peninsula north east of the community of Charleston on Route 230. It too has several federal and provincial offices. This area of the District is heavily dependent on the fishery, although tourism is developing in many of the communities, mainly in the Trinity area and in Bonavista. The peninsula has many small businesses and there is a modern hospital in Bonavista. The area has breathtaking scenery and been the location for several motion pictures and television series such as “The Shipping News” and “Random Passage”. There are many challenging hiking trails in the area.

Policing in the District

As well as responding to calls for service, RCMP Clarenville-Bonavista District takes a proactive approach in providing policing services for the people of the area through Community Based Policing. Several programs are active in the District.

Community Liaison Program

Each community in the District has an RCMP officer assigned to them. The officers are tasked establishing a close working relationship with community leaders. They are able to discuss policing issues and address any community concerns. These officers are available, as are the Team Leader, District Commander and Operations NCO, to attend town council meetings upon request to discuss policing issues.

DARE Program

DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) has been recognized internationally as an effective substance abuse program, that deals candidly with not only illegal drugs, but also with alcohol and tobacco abuse. The program is delivered by specially trained RCMP officers over the course of 10 hours of classroom discussion. We currently have four trained officers in the District. RCMP Clarenville-Bonavista District is committed to bringing this program to every Grade 6 student in the District. This encompasses 11 schools altogether. School administrators have been very supportive of this program, for instance by scheduling the hours required. The RCMP is supported in this effort by the Clarenville and Area Citizens Crime Prevention Committee and the Bonavista Crime Prevention Committee, who provide the financial support required to deliver the program. Recently a businessman in the area generously sponsored the program for an area school.

School Liaison Program

In addition to the DARE officers, Clarenville-Bonavista District has a police officer assigned to every school in the District. The assigned officers role is to provide a police presence in the schools. We have heard from both school administrators and the students themselves (see the Youth Advisory Committee below) that they want to see our officers in the schools.

The officers provide information to the students and staff by means of classroom lectures, informal conversations and by providing print material. School administrators again have been very generous to us, in some cases providing a school office for our officers.

Crime Prevention Committees

As noted previously, there are two crime prevention committees in the District, Clarenville and Area Citizens Crime Prevention Committee and the Bonavista Crime Prevention Committee. In addition to financially supporting the DARE Program, the committees work closely with the RCMP to delivery other programs, such as anti-bullying initiatives.

Ground Search & Rescue Teams

The citizens of this area and the RCMP Clarenville-Bonavista District are very fortunate to have two very qualified search and rescue teams, the Discovery Trail Ground Search and Rescue Team and the Triple Bay Eagle Ground Search and Rescue Team. These dedicated volunteers answer the call to search for lost persons, assist in marine and land disasters and to conduct evidence searches for the police. We have an RCMP officer assigned to work closely with each team.

Youth Advisory Committee

The RCMP Commanding Officer (CO) of “B” Division and the RCMP District Commander for Clarenville-Bonavista both hold annual Youth Advisory Committee meetings. In the case of the CO meeting, two youth from this District travelled to St. John’s and spent the day with other youth from across the province, discussing policing issues important to youth.

For the District Commander’s meeting, youth from each of the area’s high schools come to Clarenville for a discussion centred on the same topic. Two of the delegates had been to the CO’s meeting and were able to report on it. As mentioned previously, one of the recommendations was that youth wanted to see more police in the schools, to get to know police officers.

Seniors Advisory Committee

2004 saw the first RCMP Commanding Officers Senior Advisory Committee meeting. Seniors from across the province met with the CO in St. John’s to discuss their issues and concerns about police service and the special needs of seniors. The Committee has subsequently met in 2005 and the District is working closely with its representatives on the committee to ensure seniors’s policing concerns are addressed.

Placentia Bay Maritime Security Group

In 2003 RCMP Clarenville-Bonavista recognized the potential impact terrorism and /or organized crime might have on industry and shipping in Placentia Bay. Under the leadership of the RCMP Placentia Bay industries such as North Atlantic Refining Ltd., Newfoundland Transshipment Ltd. and Bull Arm Site Ltd., along with government agencies, including Transport Canada, Canadian Coast Guard, the Canadian Border Security Agency and Canadian Security Intelligence Service have partnered in a standing committee to address security concerns in the Placentia Bay area.

Other Committees

Members of the RCMP Clarenville-Bonavista District are active in the following committees and organizations:

Alternate Measures Committee - Clarenville and Bonavista
Bonavista Community Health Liaison Committee
Clarenville Addictions and Mental Health Committee
Committee Against Drinking & Driving)
Eastern Committee for the Co-ordination of Services to Children and Youth Eastern Region Communities Against Violence
Prevention of Suicide Together (POST)
Strategic Social Plan Committee
Targa Nfld. Committee
Victim Services Advisory Committee
Violence Awareness Action Training Committee
Eastern School District Safe Schools Committee
Eastern School District Truancy Committee

Bicycle Patrol Initiative

In response to concerns about vandalism, the Town of Clarenville and the RCMP partnered in 2004 to provide a police bicycle patrol for the District. The Town purchased two high quality bicycles, while the RCMP supplied the officers and their bicycle clothing and gear to conduct patrols.