Police and citizen crime reduction groups now have a new communication tool that is paying dividends in helping to fight crime.
Earlier this month, a Drumheller RCMP investigation led to the arrest of three people and the recovery of a stolen truck, trailer, and snowmobile. Part of that success was using the eyes and ears of groups like Citizens on Patrol and Drumheller and District Rural Crime Watch.
The RCMP has rolled out a new communications tool called RAVE.
“The RAVE communication platform. It is a relatively new platform for pushing messages out to rural crime watch groups and Citizens on Patrol,” said Staff Sergeant Robert Harms. “It is for things and people we are looking for, and property crime definitely sums up a good portion of that.”
He explains it is used when the police are on the lookout for things such as stolen property or a suspicious person, or trying to locate a person. RAVE is a one-way platform that can send out emails or texts to members, and in turn, they can use their resources and observation to aid the investigation.
“We have pushed out a number of messages, including in March, and one investigation resulted in the recovery of a stolen enclosed trailer, truck and snowmobile. These were a direct result of the RAVE communications platform and those groups,” said Harms. “They serve as extra eyes and ears for us.”
“It demonstrates the partnership and success of doing that.”
He recently met with Drumheller and District Rural Crime Watch, and members expressed their satisfaction with the tool.
“The advantage of it, is we are administering it locally through this detachment and we can actually push the message out very quickly. Two days ago, there was a report of a stolen truck in town, and in about five minutes, we had a message out to our rural crime watch group,” he said. “It makes for timely messaging for sure.”