Do you have a concern about crime in your neighbourhood or a question about how policing works?
Langley RCMP will host town hall meetings in each of Langley's neighbourhoods during the month of May, to share what they've been up to and to hear residents' concerns. The first town hall meeting is scheduled to take place in Brookswood on Wednesday, May 11.
Langley RCMP Supt. Murray Power will host each meeting, with a team of senior ranking officers ready to answer any question, no matter how pointed, he said.
"There is no question we fear. We believe we know what is going on in each community," said Power.
"We are accountable to the services we provide Langley."
At each meeting, he will provide the latest crime statistics for the neighbourhood and talk about what investigations or arrests they have made in each community.
Power is urging people to take the hour out of their busy schedules to meet them.
"I guarantee people will go away with a good sense of what is going on in their community. We really want to engage with residents, hear from them and work together. That's how we succeed."
Power said Langley is in the envious position of being a safe community, with crime on the decline.
The town hall meetings are meant as a preventative action to get ahead of any criminal issues that the public feels the police aren't addressing.
"Langley is a great place to live, and people should feel safe here because it is a very safe community," he said. "We aren't hosting these town hall meetings because we have a crisis on our hands."
The nature of policing is reactive, but with these town hall meetings, police are trying to be proactive.
While police do focus on big crimes, they are cognizant of how small neighborhood crimes, including theft from vehicles, mischief, speeding and home robberies can change people's quality of life.
When a crime trend shows up in a pocket of a neighborhood, they can strategize and often are able to figure out which prolific offender is causing most of the problems and target them.
"It's the small things we can address to make people's day-to-day life much happier. We don't trivialize smaller crimes."
When it comes to Langley City's social problems, he emphasizes that perception isn't reality.
"Crime is way down in Langley City. But there is a perception that it is up. We have to separate criminals and homeless. They are not the same.
“The homeless people are committing very few of the crimes in the City," he said. "But we recognize, as the police, we are a partner in the social (aspect of the community). Our frontline members are doing an outstanding job there and they are very respectful of the people living on the street."
RCMP Town Hall Meetings
Brookswood
Wednesday, May 11, 6:30 p.m. at Brookswood Secondary small gym, 20902 37A Ave.
Langley City
Wedensday, May 18, 6:30 p.m. at Langley Secondary large gym, 21405-56 Ave.
Aldergrove
Wednesday, May 25, 6:30 p.m. at Aldergrove Secondary, 26850 29 Ave.
Walnut Grove & Willoughby
Thursday, May 26, Township of Langley Fraser River Room, 4th floor, 20338 65 Ave.