Snow Lake saw its complement of RCMP officers reach full potential early in January with the arrival of Const. Scott Norheim, his wife Adrienne Spence, and their 15-year-old daughter.
Originally from Kyle, Saskatchewan, north of Swift Current, all the officer’s prior postings have been in Manitoba. His first out of Depot was Gillam in 2003, after which he transferred to highway patrol in Virden in 2007, spending eight-and-a-half years there before relocating in Snow Lake.
The officer and his family are impressed with Snow Lake, seeing it as a gorgeous little community situated in an outdoor paradise. “I worked here five years ago performing relief duties and I liked it so much that I knew I had to come back,” said Const. Norheim in an email interview. “It took me five years, but I finally made it back.”
Asked what originally attracted him to police work, Norheim said that he liked the idea of being able to move around the country and work in small communities, rather than being confined to a city for his career. “I’ve always been drawn to the North,” he said. The constable says that in addition to the work here, he is looking forward to enjoying all the outdoor activities available to residents and getting to know members of the community. He enjoys playing hockey, hunting, fishing, sledding, and riding his Harley. “My wife enjoys figure skating, curling, and sledding as well,” said Norheim. “My daughter is a typical 15-year-old that can’t live without an electronic device, but has joined Rangers since coming to Snow Lake.”
Having said that, Norheim will miss the freedom he had to roam all over southwestern Manitoba; as his highway patrol unit covered from the Saskatchewan border to Austin, Manitoba and from the U.S. border to Russell, Manitoba (40,000 sq. km.). “I’ll also miss the high volume of traffic on the Trans Canada Highway and the ridiculous speeds that we used to get. The highest speed I ever had was 225 km/h,” he said! In closing, the officer said that he and his family are really looking forward to their time in Snow Lake.
Further to Const. Norheim’s Snow Lake arrival, the detachment also recently provided the town council with a fourth-quarter report. In the report it was noted during the month of November 2015, the Snow Lake RCMP responded to a total of 23 calls for service. Cpl. Eric Descoteaux reported that this is slightly lower from November 2014 when police responded to 25 calls. Of the November 2015 calls, only two of the 23 calls resulted in charges. Charges were laid for possession of controlled substances (marijuana) and public mischief.
“The Snow Lake RCMP also served three offence notices for speeding and one suspension notice,” said Descoteaux.
The corporal also brought up a Nov. 12 visit to the detachment by the mayor and council, noting that it was a great opportunity to get to know council members and to show them the detachment in addition to how members deal with their clients. “The visit was a success and we would like to invite mayor and council once or twice a year for coffee and to discuss community issues or any other topics that you may have at the time,” he said.
Advising council of the detachment’s community involvement, Descoteaux said members coached the floor hockey team at the school during November lunch hours. They also participated in gym classes, taking part along with the students. “This initiative was welcomed by the teachers and school principal,” said the corporal, noting they had been invited to coach the basketball team following the Christmas holidays.
The Snow Lake RCMP is currently planning school presentations to Grade 9-12 about impaired driving, drugs and traffic violations.
Reporting on the month of December 2015, the corporal said Snow Lake RCMP responded to a total of 10 calls. This too is lower than the corresponding month in 2014, where officers responded to 19 calls. No criminal charges were laid during December 2015.
Descoteaux credited the fact that some of the prolific offenders within Snow Lake left the community and this brought in the lower numbers. “The RCMP elaborated an offender management program in order to keep an eye on our most prolific offenders and making sure that they follow their conditions upon release from a correctional institution or after being charged of a criminal offence,” said the corporal. “The number of prolific offenders is very low here in Snow Lake, but we always have one or two files open per month. With intelligence gathering and crime reduction strategies we can manage to keep our offenders on the right track until they are done with the court process.”
In respect to the staffing situation in the detachment, Descoteaux explained that Const. Robert Kroprowski was transferred to Fort St. John, BC. He noted that both the constable and his wife will be missed by everyone and remembered for their involvement in the community. “With Robert’s departure, there was one vacancy during the whole month of December,” the corporal continued. “We are looking forward to the arrival of our new member (Constable) Scott Norheim from Virden, Manitoba.”
The corporal further informed council that the detachment held a check stop with the participation of the local natural resources officer on Dec. 4. “A total of 55 vehicles were stopped,” he said. “Members queried driver’s licences, registration, and provided driving safety tips.”
As noted in the previous month’s report, the corporal said that Const. Huddle attended Joseph H. Kerr School on Dec. 12 and gave two presentations to the Grade 9-10 and Grade 11-12 classes about drinking and driving, fines, speeding tickets, underage drinking and check stops. He said that the students were encouraged to ask questions and the presentation was well received by all.
“The holiday season was very quiet in Snow Lake,” he said in closing. “There were no reports of major incidents in the community.”
