Acting Officer in Charge of the Williams Lake RCMP says the new Disclosure Unit has increased the detachment’s community engagement and involvement by reducing the administrative burdens.
In a delegation to the Williams Lake City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Staff Sergeant Brad McKinnon gave an update on the over-year file numbers, and new news coming to the Williams Lake detachment.
Williams Lake RCMP introduced the Disclosure Unit after receiving $100,000 in additional funding from the City’s general reserves back in April from a Special Council Meeting. McKinnon says the new unit has given police more opportunities to focus on crime prevention strategies.
“The Disclosure Unit, by today’s estimates, has reduced administrative burdens of our police officers by 30 per cent,” said Staff Sgt. McKinnon. “This unit is allowing our police officers to be engaged and more actively involved in this community.”
Staff Sgt. McKinnon also highlighted that the Disclosure Unit has allowed for what he called a “cascading effect” on police being more active and effective with the use of the Crisis Response Nurse. A designated psychiatric nurse from Interior Health who works with the RCMP to help those in distress.
McKinnon said having the freedom of time has also allowed the detachment to take services in schools. McKinnon says police have been able to intervene and deter issues with children and students, as well as spending more time on preventative programs with the help of the Cariboo Chilcotin School District.
“I am very proud of where we have gone with this. We have changed our focus and structure of our support staff so police officers have more time to focus on proactive activities and focus on areas most impacted by crime.”
With the increased proactive enforcement, McKinnon said the Williams Lake RCMP have seen an increase in active and closed files over the last year.
“As of today, we have hit a total of 8,900 files that we’ve actively investigated since January 1, 2025,” McKinnon said, saying it was a 600-file increase from the same time as last year. Which McKinnon says is largely due to having more resources available for the detachment from the Disclosure Unit.
“We have seen more than 200 active police patrols in the downtown core alone. That’s not including the more active patrols we have in the surrounding areas.”
McKinnon says having more active patrols in the area has resulted in 30 impaired drivers being removed from public roadways by Criminal Code investigations and immediate roadside prohibitions. Including more types of Motor Vehicle Act violations and Liquor Act violations.
According to McKinnon, 19 arrests have been made by police on individuals wanted on arrest warrants, as well as 16 breach files of people on court or police imposed protective conditions.
“We have also generated eight significant drug trafficking files, which are all being processed and forwarded to the BC Prosecution Service.”
Staff Sgt. McKinnon had more good news for Williams Lake. The detachment is set to get four new officers soon.
A new member of the detachment’s GIS Unit (General Investigations Section) with around 10 years of service from Richmond, and a background of serious and major crime investigations, has already been welcomed in Williams Lake. McKinnon says that two new officers from the Lower Mainland with a combined 15 years of experience, and finally, a new recruit straight out of their graduation from depot in Regina, Saskatchewan, will be coming to the Lake City shortly.
After McKinnon’s presentation, the City Councillors and Acting Mayor, Scott Nelson, each took a moment to speak.
“When I hear about the increased boots on the ground and presence in the community, I am appreciative of it all,” said Councillor Joan Flaspohler. “We’re in such an important time to have that; everyone’s experienced it right now with all the crises we have going on. I think it’s a real win-win to hear you are feeling successful right now in what you’re doing.”
Councillor Sheila Boehm and the rest of the councillors echoed Councillor Flaspholer’s sentiments.
“I’m certainly glad to hear that you’ll pretty much have a full contingent soon,” said Boehm. “We know that it’s not the RCMP, we know that they’re doing their jobs. It is a fact that prolific offenders are being re-released. We are probably the most known for putting through resolutions asking for a reform to the court system.”
Councillor Michael Moses was very pleased to hear that the new structure of the Disclosure Unit has been working well.
“My favourite takeaway from what [Staff Sgt. McKinnon] shared today is the success of the crisis unit; and [RCMP] being able to connect people with services, is the kind of success that we need to compound on top of each other.”
Moses hopes that a continued structure in this way will start to see more people not require the same crisis assistance in the future, and heal.
“It’s been a real pleasure to have increased RCMP members coming to our schools and talking with kids,” said Councillor Angie Delainey. “I’m very happy to hear the Disclosure Unit is working, and that we’re getting more RCMP members.”
Finally, Acting Mayor Scott Nelson spoke, saying that the increased police presence, especially in the downtown core, has not gone unnoticed by the public.
“We’ve certainly noticed a more open collective workforce with the RCMP in the downtown. People are noticing a change that is prioritizing public safety.”
Staff Sgt. McKinnon appreciated the council’s words and is pleased and proud of the work the detachment has been able to do, as well as the progress made in crisis response over the last fiscal year. Although he says there is much more work and progress to be done and made to make the City feel safe.
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