A packed house came together at a town hall meeting on Thursday, March 15 to discuss rural crime and what can be done.

Airdrie-Banff MP Blake Richards and Airdrie MLA Angela Pitt came together with members from the RCMP, Crime Stoppers, Citizens on Patrol and Rural Crime Watch to discuss how to get the upper hand on crime within Airdrie, Cochrane and surrounding rural areas.

MP Richards says he wasn't overly surprised to see 300 or more people brave the adverse weather conditions to come talk about crime as it is a hot button topic with many. "We had a great turn out and people came from all over the riding Airdrie, Cochrane or in-between the two communities. There was a lot of suggestions that came forward and things that we need to follow up on."

A suggestion that stood out for Richards was in regards to video surveillance/cameras and how advancements in technology can best be put to use. "Can facial recognition technology be better utilized by the RCMP and the police forces? My understanding is that there is some use of that now...but what is preventing greater use? Is it a resource issue or is there some law at the federal or provincial level or elsewhere, that is preventing its usage or expansion and using it better?"

Information sharing between RCMP and municipal enforcement also came up and Richards believes this is where collaboration between all levels of government comes into play. Though not passing the buck, Richards feels changes are needed federally, first and foremost. "I think the biggest problem is at the federal level...the justice system. Yes, there is a bit of a component of the provincial as well but at the end of the day largely a federal responsibility. Now is it the criminal code itself or is it the way the justice system is enforcing and using the laws we have. It seems most people that came out felt it was actually just the way the system is enforcing the laws we have now and so we need to look at that and figure what we need to do to fix this."

Drug addiction and organized crime need to be better managed if we hope to see a decrease in criminal activity, says Richards. "If we can cut off the source of the problem and help to deal with the addictions that people have we can deal with the revolving door justice system through proper punishment. Criminals are just saying there isn't enough deterrence, they might get a slap on the wrist and they'll be back at it and out doing more crime."

Getting a handle on criminal activity will be beneficial before another factor comes into play this fall with the legalization of cannabis. Not buying the idea that it will take organized crime out of the equation, Richards feels it could exasperate the problem. "There is no way organized crime is going to sit around and say, alright its been a great run, let's just go and get real jobs now...that's just not going to happen. So we've got more work to battle against them. We have to deal with the drug problem, the lack of punishment and the organized crime element. If we don't do those things we won't solve the problem."

Richards recorded a live Facebook video HERE and welcomes any comments or solutions on his page or by visiting his website www.blakerichards.ca Working together will be key but as Richards states, "enough is enough, this is huge and it's becoming more of a problem and we need to address it."