District Profile Placentia - Whitbourne District

District Commander
P.O.Box 160
Placentia, NL
AOB 2YO
Tel: (709)227-2000
Fax: (709)227-7468

District Commander
P.O.Box 130
Whitbourne, NL
AOB 3KO
Tel: (709)759-2600
Fax: (709)759-2045

District calls for service

Placentia-Whitbourne District members respond to approximately 2500 calls for service annually. The nature of the investigations handled by district members is wide-ranged and examples include crimes against persons incidents such as assaults, the investigation of motor vehicle accidents as well as a wide variety of property offences such as break and enters, thefts and property damage. Investigations and the enforcement of the provincial liquor laws and drug enforcement under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act are also handled regularly by the members of Placentia-Whitbourne District.

Community policing initiatives

Placentia -Whitbourne District practices the community based policing model and uses the problem-oriented policing approach to combat community concerns. The district is actively engaged in a strategic policing approach to improve service delivery to the people who reside in the 40 communities within the district.

District members are very active in school programs and interact regularly with town council officials in the communities. Each district member is assigned as a liaison to both a school and a town council for associated duties and responsibilities. In this way the local residents of a particular school or town council have a direct link with the RCMP and as a result the membership is more involved in the life of each community. Numerous community policing / crime prevention initiatives have also been created in Placentia-Whitbourne District, including D.A.R.E., Halloween Patrol, Operation Child Find, and a community safety bulletin program which involve police bulletins posted on the community television channels regarding general safety tips.

Community policing initiatives for the Placentia- Whitbourne District

● DARE program

• The Drug Abuse Resistance Program is being taught at the majority of grade 5 and 6 students in the district. Including - St. Anne’s Academy - Dunville, Fatima Academy - St. Brides, Holy Family Elementary - Chapel Arm, Whitbourne Elementary - Whitbourne and St. Edward’s Elementary - Placentia.

● Child Identification Program

• All kindergarten students in the Placentia area have been fingerprinted for child identification.

● Seniors and Youth: Working together to reduce crime

• This initiative was started in October of 2004 by the Placentia RCMP, the P4 Youth Centre, and Placentia Area Crime Prevention Committee and other partners. The program was developed and a submission was sent into the National Crime Prevention Centre - Community Mobilization Program. Funding of $6200.00 was received in July of 2005 for the initiative. Planning of events involving both youths and seniors was started with the first event being an afternoon tea held in September 2005. This initiative was aimed at bridging the gap between seniors and youth in the community. Many events have taken place with above average attendance. All partners have been pleased at the success of the initiative so far.

● Victim Services

• Placentia-Whitbourne members meet with victim services regularly in order to provide the best service possible to victims of crimes, witnesses or any other members of the community that may be affected by an incident.

● Crime Prevention Committees

• The Placentia area has a Crime Prevention committee which includes an RCMP liaison member. The committee works with communities and youth to stop crime in the area and develop initiatives to protect people from crime.

● School Liaison Officers

• Each member of the Placentia - Whitbourne District is a liaison officer with a school in the area. Members attend their school and do various presentations. In the past, topics such as bullying, bike safety, RCMP as a career choice, and ATV regulations have all been presented to various grades in the schools in the area.

● Town Council Liaisons

• Each member of the Placentia - Whitbourne District is a liaison officer with a town council in the area. Members attend town council meetings to discuss any police related issues that may have arisen within the community.

● Seniors Abuse Liaisons

• A member from each detachment area is a liaison for the seniors in that area. This member works with senior’s groups and provides assistance with any inquiries. They also give seminars on elder abuse and how seniors can protect themselves from being victims of fraud.

● Weekly Media Report

• Placentia-Whitbourne District provide a weekly media report to the local paper - The Charter. This report includes recent crimes that have been committed and court results.

District description

Placentia-Whitbourne District was formed in 1997 and involved the amalgamation of the jurisdictions of the former Placentia and Whitbourne Detachments. Today the district still includes an RCMP office in the communities of Placentia and Whitbourne. The district has 17 employees. They include the district commander (staff-sergeant), who is based out of the Placentia office, an operations NCO (sergeant), two team-leaders/supervisors (corporals), 11 investigators (constables), and two district-assistants (public service employees).

Placentia - Whitbourne District jurisdiction includes most of the south-western region of the Avalon Peninsula on the island portion of Newfoundland & Labrador. This jurisdiction includes the western coastline and waters of St. Mary’s Bay, the eastern coastline and waters of Placentia Bay, an area that is well known in this province as “The Cape Shore”. The northern portion of district jurisdiction includes the head of Trinity Bay and the south-eastern coastline and waters of Trinity Bay. District jurisdiction extends westward to cover most of the Isthmus of Avalon and borders Clarenville-Bonavista District, and shares jurisdictional boundaries with Avalon East and Trinity-Conception Districts to the east. In total, 40 small communities are located within the Placentia-Whitbourne District jurisdiction, with a combined resident population of approximately 15,000 people.

General Area History

The town of Placentia is the largest community in Placentia-Whitbourne District, with a population of approximately 4500 residents. Situated on the coast of Placentia Bay, the town of Placentia is a natural harbour surrounded by hills, ponds and rivers. Its sheltered location and unique topography made the area an ideal fort site for early settlers, giving the area a rich and colourful history. Because of its location and geography, the town of Placentia played an important part in the early colonization of Newfoundland. First settled by the Basques and the French in the early 16th century, its name originated with the French name Plaisance, meaning “pleasant place”. Placentia is located on Route 100, approximately 32 km south of the Trans-Canada Highway. From late spring to mid- October it’s accessible by the Marine Atlantic Ferry which operates from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Argentia. With its rich history and as a ferry gateway to Newfoundland, Placentia and area are popular tourist destinations and have many attractions to offer visitors, including historical sights such as:

● Castle Hill National Historic Site
Overlooking Placentia Bay, Castle Hill preserves the remains of fortifications built by the French and English in the 17th and 18th centuries.

● Fort Louis
Built by the governor Broulillon in the early 1690's in response to attacks by privateers and Basque fisherman.

● The Placentia Court House
Built around 1903, the court house is a majestic building which is standing on the spot where the original structure was built in 1774.

● The Roman Catholic Church and Convent
One of the oldest buildings in the area, built between 1888 and 1893.

● The O'Reilly House Museum
A bedrock of historical information going back as far as 1902.

● The Anglican Church and Cemetery
As the center of history in the area this cemetery contains the deceased of all the nations which have occupied Placentia.

● Lafontaine (Freshwater)
The site of a battle between the French and English in 1692, in which 60 Basque fishermen kept 700 English soldiers from landing ashore.

● Blockhouse
On this isthmus the English erected a temporary fortification in 1762 to provide additional protection for the town.

● Mount Pleasant
This fortification was used by the French until 1687 when Governor Parat erected a small battery in the general location of Fort Louis.

● Placentia National Historic Site
This plaque commemorates the development of the town as a major fishing center during French and English periods. A major area of both Provincial and National significance is the Cape St. Mary's Seabird Sanctuary, situated at the southern tip of the Cape Shore. Cape St. Mary’s is one of the largest and most accessible seabird colonies in the world, and is a nesting ground for hundreds of thousands of seabirds. Many tourists and naturalists travel to the Cape annually to photography and study the countless seabird species that frequent the area.