The Drumheller RCMP is standing at attention ready to help however they can in wake of the shooting of two Killam RCMP officers.
On Tuesday afternoon, two RCMP officers were wounded when attempting to execute a search warrant on a rural residence near Hardisty. The two officers were airlifted to Edmonton for surgery. On Wednesday morning officers were able to enter the residence where they discovered a deceased male.
On Friday, February 10, the police search for 27 year old Sawyer Clarke Robinson ended when he was taken into custody. He is charged with two counts of attempted murder.
Staff Sergeant Art Hopkins said the Drumheller Detachment is affected by the shooting and most will help out however they can.
He explains that when an event like this occurs, where a detachment sees a substantial number of its officers out of service, other detachments are asked to help out.
He said on Tuesday, the day of the event, the detachment was prepared to help with
on the ground responsibilities such as manning roadblocks, however they were not called upon. Since then, the Drumheller Detachment was asked to identify its resources.
“It’s a very small detachment and when that amount of persons are injured at the same time, it causes anxiety with the others to say the least,” said Hopkins. “Generally what happens is they pool resources from other places to replace the numbers there, and those resources have to come from other detachments.”
Hopkins said the Drumheller Detachment was asked to inventory its resources to see if it could help.
“Generally I suggest if I do have to send two people, it would be for a week, and then it would be another detachment’s turn, and maybe down the road I may have to send more,” he said.
He says often in such cases more resources are dedicated to the community than were there in the first place, and this carries on for a few months to stabilize any situation.
“Everybody will pick up the slack,” said Hopkins.
The Drumheller Detachment has 15 regular positions, and currently has a surplus resource of one officer, making 16 in total. However there are currently two officers not in service.