Crime
Red Deer RCMP recent arrests include two who rammed police vehicles
Red Deer, Alberta – Red Deer RCMP recent arrests include the arrests of prolific offenders identified through Pinpoint, the Red Deer crime reduction strategy; police located a number of offenders while patrolling targeted crime hot spots, and more arrests came thanks to tips from the public regarding suspicious activity. Two suspects were arrested after ramming police vehicles and fleeing; both were identified by police and arrested later the same day.
January 8 – 201835429
Shortly before 10:30 pm on January 8, RCMP responded to a report of a disturbance in the downtown and arrested a suspect who was found to be breaching a number of court-imposed conditions and his probation.
28 year old Travis Kowalchuk faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 733.1(1) – Fail to comply with probation X 2
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions X 4
Kowalchuk was remanded to appear in court on January 10 at 9:30 am.
January 5 – 201823022
At 10 pm on January 5, RCMP responded to a report of suspicious activity in the Kentwood neighbourhood involving an alleged attempt to break into a vehicle. RCMP attended and arrested one male without incident.
29 year old Michael Shimaro-Campbell faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 430(4) – Mischief under $5,000
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions
Shimaro-Campbell was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on January 8 at 9:30 am; his charges have since been dealt with by the courts.
January 5 – 201818591
Shortly before 2 am on January 5, RCMP located a suspect driving a stolen U-Haul and initiated a traffic stop; the driver refused to stop for police and rammed the police vehicle, pushing it aside and fleeing the area. RCMP quickly identified the suspect through the course of their investigation and located him several hours later at a north end hotel, where police arrested him without incident. The U-Haul was recovered by Lacombe Police Service the same morning. The Red Deer RCMP police vehicle sustained minor damage as a result of the ramming but the police officer was not injured in the collision.
22 year old Jessie Proulx faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 252(1.1) – Fail to stop or remain at scene of accident
· Criminal Code 249.1(1) – Operate motor vehicle while pursued by police
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000
· Criminal Code 259(4) – Drive while prohibited
Proulx was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on January 8 at 9:30 am. He is scheduled to appear in court again on January 15 at 9:30 am.
January 1 – 20184341
RCMP on patrol in a high-crime area at 9 pm on January 1 located a vehicle being driven by a male suspect who was wanted on a number of outstanding warrants out of Blackfalds for possession of a weapon and failing to comply with probation. The suspect was arrested without incident.
30 year old Dustin Corey Malone is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on January 24 at 9:30 am on his outstanding warrants.
December 30 – 20171753172
Shortly before 4 pm on December 30, RCMP responded to a report of a stolen taxi cab, and soon located the taxi as it drove through north Red Deer. Police officers waited until the vehicle was parked and the male driver had exited before moving in to arrest the suspect. RCMP recovered the victim’s identification and credit card and merchandise that had been purchased with it.
47 year old Trevor James Larmondin faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 355(b) – Possession of stolen property under $5,000 X 3
· Criminal Code 380(1)(b) – Fraud
Larmondin was remanded to appear in court on January 3 and is scheduled to appear again on January 16 at 9:30 am in Red Deer.
December 28 – 20171744064
The afternoon of December 28, RCMP on patrol in a crime hot spot located a station wagon with a stolen license plate driving in the area. The car refused to stop for police when they initiated a traffic stop, and collided at low speed with the police cruiser before driving away. The collision resulted in minimal damage to the police car and no injuries; police did not pursue the vehicle but arrested the suspect, who was known to police, at his residence later the same day.
40 year old Michael Cedric Langille faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 252 – Fail to stop or remain at scene of accident
· Criminal Code 249.1(1) – Operate motor vehicle while pursued by police
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions
· TSA 52(1)(a) – Drive without registration
· TSA 54(1)(a) – Drive without insurance
Langille is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on January 12 at 9:30 am.
December 28 – 20171742481
Shortly after 1:30 am on December 28, RCMP responded to a report of someone attempting to enter a residence they were no longer permitted in. On arrival, RCMP located a male suspect hiding on the roof of the apartment building; the suspect was arrested without incident and police seized a firearm and ammunition that the suspect was prohibited by court order from possessing. The suspect was further wanted on outstanding warrants for breaching his probation.
34 year old Dennis Jay Kunzelman faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 90(1) – Carry concealed weapon
· Criminal Code 91(1) – Unauthorized possession of firearm
· Criminal Code 117.01(1) – Possession of firearm while prohibited from doing so by reason of order
· Criminal Code 733.1(1) – Fail to comply with probation
Kunzelman was remanded for court January 2 and makes his next court appearance in Red Deer on January 12 at 9:30 am.
December 27 – 20171738912
Shortly after 8 am on December 27, RCMP responded to a report of a break-in at the downtown Servus Credit Union; by 9:30 am, police had the suspect in custody thanks to surveillance images and a report from a citizen about a suspicious male in the downtown. The suspect was located wielding a piece of banister that had been broken off during the bank break-in.
47 year old James Jack Smaaslet faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 348(1)(a) – Break and enter
· Criminal Code 430(4) – Mischief under $5,000
Smaaslet was remanded for court January 2 and made his next court appearance in Red Deer on January 10 at 9:30 am.
Addictions
Why can’t we just say no?
From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
Drug use and violence have become common place in hospitals. Drug-addicted patients openly smoke meth and fentanyl, and inject heroin. Dealers traffic illicit drugs. Nurses are harassed, forced to work amidst the toxic fumes from drugs and can’t confiscate weapons. In short, according to one nurse, “We’ve absolutely lost control.”
“Defining deviancy down” is a cultural philosophy that emerged in the United States during the 1990s.
It refers to society’s tendency to adjust its standards of deviancy “down,” so that behaviours which were once unacceptable become acceptable. Over time, this newly- acceptable behaviour can even become society’s norm.
Of course, the converse must also be true — society looks down on those who label social behaviours “wrong,” deeming them moralistic, judgemental or simply out of touch with the realities of modern life.
Thirty years later, this philosophy is entrenched in British Columbia politics and policies. The province has become a society that cannot say “no” to harmful or wrong behaviours related to drug use. It doesn’t matter if you view drug use as a medical issue, a law-and-order issue, or both – we have lost the ability to simply say “no” to harmful or wrong behaviour.
That much has become abundantly clear over the past two weeks as evidence mounts that BC’s experiment with decriminalization and safe supply of hard drugs is only making things worse.
A recently-leaked memo from BC’s Northern Health Authority shows the deleterious impact these measures have had on BC’s hospitals.
The memo instructs staff at the region’s hospitals to tolerate and not intervene with illegal drug use by patients. Apparently, staff should not be taking away any drugs or personal items like a knife or other weapons under four inches long. Staff cannot restrict visitors even if they are openly bringing illicit drugs into the hospital and conducting their drug transactions in the hallways.
The public was quite rightly outraged at the news and BC’s Health Minister Adrian Dix quickly attempted to contain the mess by saying that the memo was outdated and poorly worded.
But his facile excuses were quickly exposed by publication of the very clearly worded memo and by nurses from across the province who came forward to tell their stories of what is really happening in our hospitals.
The President of the BC Nurses Union, Adriane Gear, said the issue was “widespread” and “of significant magnitude.” She commented that the problems in hospitals spiked once the province decriminalized drugs. In a telling quote, she said, “Before there would be behaviours that just wouldn’t be tolerated, whereas now, because of decriminalization, it is being tolerated.”
Other nurses said the problem wasn’t limited to the Northern Health Authority. They came forward (both anonymously and openly) to say that drug use and violence have become common place in hospitals. Drug-addicted patients openly smoke meth and fentanyl, and inject heroin. Dealers traffic illicit drugs. Nurses are harassed, forced to work amidst the toxic fumes from drugs and can’t confiscate weapons. In short, according to one nurse, “We’ve absolutely lost control.”
People think that drug policies have no impact on those outside of drug circles – but what about those who have to share a room with a drug-smoking patient?
No wonder healthcare workers are demoralized and leaving in droves. Maybe it isn’t just related to the chaos of Covid.
The shibboleth of decriminalization faced further damage when Fiona Wilson, the deputy chief of Vancouver’s Police Department, testified before a federal Parliamentary committee to say that the policy has been a failure. There have been more negative impacts than positive, and no decreases in overdose deaths or the overdose rate. (If such data emerged from any other healthcare experiment, it would immediately be shut down).
Wison also confirmed that safe supply drugs are being re-directed to illegal markets and now account for 50% of safe supply drugs that are seized. Her words echoed those of BC’s nurses when she told the committee that the police, “have absolutely no authority to address the problem of drug use.”
Once Premier David Eby and Health Minister Adrian Dix stopped denying that drug use was occurring in hospitals, they continued their laissez-faire approach to illegal drugs with a plan to create “safe consumption sites” at hospitals. When that lacked public appeal, Mr. Dix said the province would establish a task force to study the issue.
What exactly needs to be studied?
The NDP government appears to be uninformed, at best, and dishonest, at worst. It has backed itself into a corner and is now taking frantic and even ludicrous steps to legitimize its experimental policy of decriminalization. The realities that show it is not working and is creating harm towards others and toward institutions that should be a haven for healing.
How quickly we have become a society that lacks the moral will – and the moral credibility – to just to say “no.”
Susan Martinuk is a Senior Fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and author of Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health-care Crisis.
Alberta
Former senior financial advisor charged with embezzling millions from Red Deer area residents
News release from Alberta RCMP
Former senior financial advisor charged for misappropriating nearly $5 million from clients
On April 4, 2024, the RCMP’s Provincial Financial Crime Team charged a Calgary resident for fraud-related offences after embezzling millions of dollars from his clients while serving as a senior financial advisor.
Following a thorough investigation, the accused is alleged to have fraudulently withdrawn funds from client accounts and deposited them into bank accounts he personally controlled. A total of sixteen victims were identified in the Red Deer area and suffered a combined loss of nearly $5 million.
Marc St. Pierre, 52, a resident of Calgary, was arrested and charged with:
- Fraud over $5,000 contrary to section 380(1)(a) of the Criminal Code; and,
- Theft over $5,000 contrary to section 344(a) of the Criminal Code.
St. Pierre is scheduled to appear in Red Deer Provincial Court on May 14, 2024.
“The ability for financial advisors to leverage their position to conduct frauds and investment scams represents a significant risk to the integrity of Alberta’s financial institutions. The investigation serves as an important reminder for all banking clients to regularly check their accounts for any suspicious activity and to report it to their bank’s fraud prevention team.”
- Sgt. John Lamming, Provincial Financial Crime Team
The Provincial Financial Crime Team is a specialized unit that conducts investigations relating to multi-jurisdictional serious fraud, investments scams and corruption.
-
COVID-1921 hours ago
Japanese study finds ‘significant increases’ in cancer deaths after third mRNA COVID doses
-
Business19 hours ago
Maxime Bernier warns Canadians of Trudeau’s plan to implement WEF global tax regime
-
Brownstone Institute17 hours ago
A Coup Without Firing a Shot
-
COVID-1915 hours ago
WHO Official Admits the Truth About Passports
-
Energy13 hours ago
Anti-LNG activists have decided that they now actually care for LNG investors after years of calling to divest
-
Bruce Dowbiggin18 hours ago
Coyotes Ugly: The Sad Obsession Of Gary Bettman
-
Freedom Convoy16 hours ago
Ottawa spent “excessive” $2.2 million fighting Emergencies Act challenge
-
Frontier Centre for Public Policy20 hours ago
The tale of two teachers