The Warman-Martensville RCMP detachment has 30 police officers providing 24-hour coverage over a geographic area that’s almost as large as Canada’s smallest province.
Prince Edward Island is 5,660 square kilometers. The Warman-Martensville RCMP detachment, which includes satellite detachment offices in Radisson and Delisle, has a coverage area of 4,999 square kilometers.
Prince Edward Island has a population of about 174,000 people, and is served by 130 RCMP officers.
The Warman-Martensville detachment has an estimated population of about 35,000 people and is served by 30 RCMP officers.
“It’s a big area,” said Warman-Martensville RCMP Staff Sergeant Jason Teniuk. “It takes at least 45 minutes for an officer to drive from one end of the detachment area to the other. It’s not unusual for an officer to put 1,000 kilometers on a vehicle in a single shift. Our vehicles are replaced every two years, when they hit about 180,000 kilometers.”
Teniuk outlined the role and operations of the detachment at five community town hall meetings earlier this month in Warman, Martensville, Radisson, Delisle and Asquith.
The detachment coverage area includes two cities (Warman and Martensville), four towns (Langham, Osler, Radisson, and Asquith), three villages (Vanscoy, Borden and Maymont), five Rural Municipalities (Corman Park, Great Bend, Vanscoy, Mayfield, and Montrose), and numerous hamlets. (The town of Dalmeny is served by the Dalmeny Police Service.)
The third largest RCMP detachment in the province in terms of numbers of officers (only North Battleford with 61 officers and Yorkton with 45 officers are bigger), the Warman-Martensville detachment fields about 7,500 calls for service annually.
The detachment was originally four separate detachments, but was amalgamated about a decade ago in order to provide 24-hour policing. Teniuk said each of the smaller detachments, on their own, did not have enough resources to provide around-the-clock protection.
“You need at least 24 officers for 24-hour coverage,” he said. “Any less than that it doesn’t work.”
At each town hall meeting, Teniuk, accompanied by other senior RCMP officers, outlined the detachment’s action, plan, statistics, and operations, as well as fielding questions from the public.