New RCMP unit poised to hit the streets in Swan River area

A new RCMP unit tasked with investigating serious and complex crimes in western Manitoba is slated to begin operations Wednesday, marking an end to a lengthy wait for enhanced police support in the Swan River Valley.

The three-officer general investigation section was supposed to be operational by early 2025, but its launch was delayed partly to national staffing shortages in the police force.

“The delay is super frustrating. We’ve waited a year-and-a-half to finally get to this point,” Swan Valley West Reeve Bill Gade said Tuesday.

“It’s great that it is finally starting, but some of that excitement has kind of slipped away from the waiting.”

Gade has been a vocal proponent of the unit, which was announced by the Manitoba government and the RCMP in November 2024.

The province promised nearly $265,000 for the general investigation section, which is a pilot program in partnership with the Town of Swan River and the municipalities of Swan Valley West, Minitonas-Bowsman and Mountain. The four municipalities will provide funding as part of a five-year deal, and the unit will be based in Swan River.

Gade said the three officers selected to staff the unit are members of the Swan River detachment. Three officers have been hired to replace them on general patrol, as they shift their focus to longer-term investigations.

“What we expect them to do is go chase down some drug dealers,” Gade said. “In Swan River right now, if you’re that beat cop, you’re taking more calls than you know what to do with, all day long. No matter what it is you’re doing, you have at least a call pending.”

The high call volume leaves little time for officers to write warrants, follow up on leads or conduct proactive policing operations. Criminals are wise to the resource constraint faced by local Mounties, and use it to their advantage, Gade said.

He hopes that changes when the new unit hits the streets.

“It should be like shooting fish in the barrel here for the first month or two,” Gade said. “The headlines are going to make it look like we have a crime epidemic because they are going to be arresting people.”

Gade said he is pushing RCMP to issue news releases any time the unit makes an arrest.

“We want to see five a week, 10 a week. We want the message to be that this is not the place to come and do (crime) anymore,” he said.

Manitoba RCMP did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

In a March 13 post on the Swan River detachment’s official Facebook page, police confirmed the new unit was expected to start operating on April 1, and that three new officers were joining the detachment.

Officers working for the unit will be “responsible with providing enhanced enforcement and assisting with more complex investigations as needed within the town and surrounding area,” the post said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca