Keeping the community safe: Role of MHPS unchanged by COVID


RYAN McCRACKEN While their role in the community remains the same,


Medicine Hat Police Service has been forced to adapt to a constantly changing environment in order to maintain that role over the past 14 months.


Support Services Inspector Tim McGough says he’s truly proud of the way MHPS has managed a consistent level of service while pivoting to new areas and employing creative solutions to new problems as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.


“They’ve been very nimble and been able to pivot to ensure the citizens of Medicine Hat remain safe and get the service that they’re used to,” said McGough. “We’ve been able to grow new areas and actually still provide service in different ways.”


Some of those different ways include more online reporting and a new call centre for handling non-priority calls, as well as the creation of a downtown patrol unit and regional property crime unit.


“As you know, just because there’s a pandemic crime doesn’t stop. We still have to ensure we have community safety in and around the area as well,” said McGough, adding the call centre has helped streamline calls for service.


“We basically looked at all the calls for service that we were going to, did a reassessment on them and said, you know what, we don’t really need to send an officer to this, so we’ll triage those calls and put them into the call centre, where an officer handles those calls and deals with people online.”


When they are needed on scene, McGough says officers have been taking a number of extra steps to ensure the safety of themselves and those around them.


“We still attend a lot of in-person calls for service, like we did before, but obviously we’re taking extra safety precautions when dealing with people on calls and traffic stops with the use of masks, safe distancing, etc.,” he said.


As with many other professions, McGough says the challenges brought on by the pandemic have come with a psychological toll for members of the MHPS, and they’re encouraged to make use of available support services.


“Like all members of the community, COVID has been tough on all our staff psychologically. We do have supports available for our staff and they can access them,” he said. “The Medicine Hat Police Service provides all staff with wellness solutions to support their mental health and wellbeing, because it’s critical, specifically in the time of COVID.”


MHPS has been handling COVID-related guidelines and restrictions with an educate-first approach, and McGough says their efforts have been received in a largely positive manner despite a few vocal critics.


“They are tough situations to deal with, but the men and women at Medicine Hat Police Service are professionals. They’re in the middle of things all the time,” said McGough. “I would like to say that we do have a high level of support in our community. The majority of our community understands the difficult job we have to do, and we’re just trying to keep people safe. There’s the few vocal people who you can’t keep happy and they always take an opposite approach, but generally speaking we’re really happy with the community. We feel that we have a lot of community support and we’re just going to keep keeping people safe the best we can.”


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