The CSO program here in Thompson is something we should be proud of.

That’s what Mayor Dennis Fenske said during Tuesday’s regular meeting of council following a report from the RCMP.

Inspector Kevin Lewis, the top cop here in Thompson, joined City Council to go over their statistics, which were for the RCMP’s fourth quarter for the 2017/2018 year.

Councillor Duncan Wong asked Lewis why there was a drastic rise in youth engagement events, as there were 336 events for the fourth quarter of 2017/2018 while only 110 for the same period of the 2016/2017 year.

Inspector Lewis responded by saying that the increase is a result of the community relations officers scheduling more events, before Fenske clarified that the rise in that statistic is a good thing.

Mayor Fenske said that the CSO program was brought up at national meeting he recently attended in Ottawa. He said that the new RCMP Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner told the room of officials from across the country that the CSO program we have works and that it should be used as an example.

He added that both the new Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the RCMP have a Thompson connection. Commissioner Brenda Lucki served at the Thompson detachment as a partner to Inspector Kevin Lewis, while Deputy Commissioner Kevin Brosseau was the commanding officer for “D” Division in Manitoba from 2012 through 2016.

The full report can be viewed by clicking here.