This year, Whitehorse RCMP is once again looking to the public for recommendations on policing priorities for 2024 / 2025, through a survey that will be available until April 4, 2024. This is the third year that the Whitehorse RCMP Detachment has used a survey to seek input from the public.
"For the past two years, the insight we have gained from community participation in the survey has been valuable. It has shaped our perspective on setting our annual priorities, and we have appreciated hearing from a diverse group of members of the community," says Sgt. Dustin Grant, acting Whitehorse RCMP Detachment Commander.
Policing priorities are identified Yukon RCMP by the Minister of Justice, with work from both the Yukon Police Council and the Department of Justice. Whitehorse RCMP Detachment then uses these territorial policing priorities and sets community-specific priorities, with input and consultation from the Whitehorse community, local leadership, governments, and stakeholders.
"Our goal is to ensure that police officers in the city focus on issues that have been identified as important to a wide variety of community members," says Sgt. Grant. "We know for the last two years, traffic concerns have been mentioned significantly in survey results, and we have been able to put a special focus on enforcement of Territorial and Criminal Code traffic laws. In just the last three months of 2023, police officers in Whitehorse did over eleven hundred traffic stops, and issued 160 tickets and 285 written warning. Proactive traffic stops resulted in 22 impaired drivers being removed from the road. We heard your concerns and we hope that actions like these demonstrate that we are listening."
The final date to submit survey responses is April 4, 2024. Survey results and the Annual Priorities will be shared with the public after results are reviewed and compiled. This is the third time that a survey is being utilised to reach the public in Whitehorse, and it will be available in the following ways:
- An online survey has been set up on the Survey Monkey website and is available here until April 4, 2024 (disponible aussi en français);
- Paper copies and a drop box will be available at Whitehorse RCMP Detachment front desk until April 4, 2024;
- A labelled drop box will be available during business hours in the lobby at the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, located at 302 Steele St #101, Whitehorse, until April 4, 2024;
- A labeled drop box will be available during business hours at KDFN Justice office until April 4, 2024;
- An email can be sent to whitehorsefrontdesk@rcmp-grc.gc.ca for an electronic copy of the survey; when completed they can be printed and submitted to a drop box or emailed back.
Thank you to the all who engage in this survey, helping to shape the policing priorities for Whitehorse RCMP Detachment.