New RCMP unit making noise in Swan River

The region of Swan River has seen a surge of police activity that has pleased a local mayor and a reeve, as the RCMP investigative unit that launched in April has laid 140 charges and executed 19 search warrants in the area.

The supervisor of the RCMP’s general investigative unit, Cpl. Juanita Bettesworth, is also happy with the first six months, describing the activity since launch as “excellent” in the push to fight drug-related crime. She said the newly formed investigative team has meshed well.

“It’s a really great feeling when a team of individuals who are like-minded and hard working come together with a common goal. It’s a fantastic feeling,” Bettesworth told the Sun in a recent interview. “I have two members who are working in this team that are just relentless. They have a true passion for this work.”

The GIS unit has spent its first six months building a foundation in the community, which included a “lot of time” given to recruiting informants, she said. The supervisor said that recruitment has been instrumental.

“I would attribute a great deal of success to the recruitment of informants within the valley,” Bettesworth said. “Based on the amount of Controlled Drugs and Substances Act search warrants that we’ve executed.”

She noted the RCMP unit has focused recruitment of informants around drug crimes.

Forty-nine of the 140 charges were laid under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and 91 were Criminal Code charges, she said. Of the 19 search warrants, eight were under the Criminal Code, and 11 were executed related to the controlled drugs act.

Bettesworth would not say how many informants had been recruited.

The town of Swan River had a crime severity index of 503 — almost four times the Manitoba rate — according to the 2021 Census.

When the GIS section was announced in 2024, Jacobson said the town was hit hard by crime. Now that the GIS section has launched, he feels the index is lowering.

“I know that that number has gone down. I have the confidence that it has,” he said last week. “Our crime severity index was quite high back in 2020.”

Bettesworth said that because of the surge of police activity in the Swan River area, community members have been reaching out more to police with more tips and information.

“Because of our success initially, people have been really getting on board,” she said. “What we’ve seen now is an increase in our reporting from the general public. Our Crime Stoppers tips have increased substantially as well.

“Those are very positive signs that members of general public are feeling effects of the unit.”

The general investigation section was introduced to Swan River to focus on drug-related and violent crime. It was announced in 2024 through a collaboration of funding between the federal government, the Manitoba government, and Swan River and Swan Valley West. The pilot project was announced for a five-year term.

The intention of the GIS was to free up frontline police to continue day-to-day work and shift the longer work that requires days, weeks or months to the new investigative unit.

The activity carried out by the RCMP since launch of the GIS has been a breath of fresh air, the mayor of Swan River and the Reeve of the Municipality of Swan Valley West, which surrounds Swan River, told the Sun.

The unit recently released statistics to local municipalities detailing its first six months of activity. The reports are proof that change is taking place, Mayor of Swan River, Lance Jacobson, said in a recent interview.

“If it’s cocaine, crack cocaine, prescription pills, firearms off of our streets, that is just something that we haven’t been able to accomplish in several years prior to this,” Jacobson said. “So far, I think they have been doing a phenomenal job.”

Morale has improved in the citizens, and trust seems to be growing towards the RCMP — but there’s lots of work left to do despite the strong start, he said.

“There’s a long way to go. I’m not saying all the problems are gone.”

The next step is for the court system to process the criminal cases, the mayor said. He noted that some accused are not tried for up to a year, and that some have been charged and then released, and then charged again for other crimes.

Jacobson said that the efforts of local law enforcement will eventually rely upon the courts to follow through.

“That’s a big piece, you can arrest all the people you want, lay charges, but our courts have to consider … keeping these people out of our communities,” he said. “Our justice system needs to be able to deal with these people.”

Reeve of the Municipality of Swan Valley West Bill Gade said only 15 search warrants had been executed by the local detachment for seven years prior to the GIS unit’s arrival in Swan River. Gade said the public has been very receptive to that number now being surpassed in under six months.

“Anything I have heard has been good stuff,” Gade said. “Everybody is happy. Every time we talk about it publicly, what’s happening, everyone is cheering them on.”

Gade said he knows of “lots” of cases where people have been charged, released, and then charged again and jailed. He said he believes that the RCMP has been “very successful” at keeping tabs on repeat offenders, to the point that some people have left the community.

“There’s already been some that said ‘f’ this, I don’t want to live in a town where police check my conditions,” he said. “And we’re like, ‘We thought that would happen.’ And I feel bad for wherever they went, but at least they’re out of our town.”

The community pushed “very hard” for the focus of the GIS unit to be enforcement against drug-related crimes, Gade said. He said he believes that the crackdown on drug offenders has also led to a decrease in theft.

The RCMP detachment in Swan River has also become fully staffed this year, with a complement of 18 members, compared to recent years when the detachment was facing up to 50 per cent vacancies, Gade said.

Council is not yet changing its priorities for community governance as a result of the new presence of law enforcement, however that may happen, Gade said.

“It hasn’t changed a lot of how we plan on doing other things, but I think it will,” he said. “We can get back to worrying about things like making our parks look better, and having picnics. And not being so scared to have people out. We still have people that won’t go shopping at a grocery store.”

Gade, who owns CJ radio, had his business firebombed in Swan River last year, and was later critical about vacancies in the RCMP detachment and the late arrival of the GIS unit, which officially opened about a year behind the hopeful start date floated when it was announced.

He told the Sun following the firebombing that he could not get “replacement value” insurance coverage on the business because Swan River had a reputation for break-ins.

The new activity in the area has had a positive impact on public sentiment, he said.

“It makes a big difference for us,” he said. “It’s not going to be an instant fix, but you know it’s massive priority to get the community feeling safe.”

Gade said that the increased activity is promising, however there is much left to do.

“I’m happy that something is happening, but we’re not done yet,” he said. “It’s going to take us a little more time, I think, to really get to that point where we can take that deep breath and say, ‘Okay, and now let’s go do whatever happens to be next.’”

The community is on track to improve its reputation, he said.

“I think long-term, we are going to see everyone say, ‘Hey Swan River, that’s a pretty safe community,’” he said. “We’re certainly hopeful we will keep the direction we are going now.”

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com