The newest face at the Outlook RCMP detachment these days is actually someone who originally called the Lake Diefenbaker area home.
Sgt. Mark Langager, who was posted to Outlook at the end of this past November, has been on the force for 17 years, and he became interested in a career in law enforcement at an early age.
鈥淚 grew up on a farm outside of Strongfield and went to school in Loreburn,鈥� he said, sitting down with this reporter in his office.聽 鈥淲hen I was playing junior hockey, I lived with an RCMP officer that got me interested.鈥�
In his years on the force, Sgt. Langager has been posted to a number of different communities and detachments, gaining valuable experience and learning what it takes and what it means to be a police officer in the province.
鈥淔oam Lake, Fond-du-Lac, Cumberland House, Punnichy, and Swift Current city and rural detachments,鈥� said Mark, listing where he鈥檚 worked.聽 鈥淪wift Current, my last spot, would be the longest.聽 I was there for six years.鈥�
So far, Langager says the community has been great in the two months that he鈥檚 been in Outlook.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very accepting, I was accepted by people right away, and they鈥檙e friendly,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淭hey鈥檙e also helpful in us doing our duty, and they鈥檙e also inviting outside in the community, as I鈥檝e been accepted to a hockey team, and there are other events in the community where I鈥檝e been welcomed to.聽 It鈥檚 very nice.鈥�
The Outlook detachment works closely with the Elbow RCMP to service the regional area, and Langager says working to reach the desired number of officers means reaching a sufficient amount who could help cover the area and increase service standards.
鈥淚ncluding me, there are four officers right now, which means we鈥檙e one short, and we have three posted in Elbow,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淓ight is a sufficient number, and we don鈥檛 want to drop below that, otherwise we notice that our coverage and service standards can decrease.鈥�
In the last one to two years, crime such as vehicle break-ins and thefts has seemed to be on the rise in Outlook and the surrounding area.聽 Langager says that typically, the perpetrators in these incidents tend to be people who are traveling through the area and commit crime through the night before making sure they鈥檙e gone by morning.聽 He says that there鈥檚 a degree of difficulty in catching criminals who operate that way.
鈥淎 number of the thefts in the area recently had to do with a number of transient people traveling through the area,鈥� said Mark.聽 鈥淲hether they come from out of the city, or even out of the province, it seems to be just traveling criminals.聽 We just need people to help us be aware of where these people are and when they鈥檙e in the area.聽 It鈥檚 a little harder for us when you have a traveling criminal that travels through and is here in the night and breaks into a vehicle or steals a vehicle, and then they鈥檙e gone.聽 So a majority of them are from outside the detachment area.鈥�
When incidents such as vehicles getting stolen or broken into, or even local businesses being smashed into and robbed, it makes many people believe that the image of the safe, small town environment where 鈥榚verybody trusts everybody鈥� and no one locks their doors is tarnished.聽 However, Langager believes that communities such as Outlook are just as safe now as they were years ago, touching on the immediacy factor of how news gets spread by way of the internet and social media, whereas that wasn鈥檛 available a generation ago.
鈥淚 believe that they鈥檙e just as safe as they used to be,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淲ith the way that crime stats are reported through us and the media, they鈥檙e more readily available.聽 People hear more about the crime now, whereas 30 years ago you might not have heard what happened in Dinsmore if you鈥檙e from Outlook, but nowadays you hear more about these things because people are bombarded with what鈥檚 going on.鈥�
One of the hot-button topics permeating through Outlook right now is the issue of speeding down residential streets and neighborhoods, with the problem recently being brought to Outlook鈥檚 town council by Douglass Street resident Scarlett Elliott.聽 Langager says a lot of times, people may gather the impression that the RCMP aren鈥檛 鈥渄oing anything鈥� about the issue, but he says the relationship between the police and the people they serve is something of a two-way street; in order for them to respond to a particular problem, they need people to pick up the phone and make a formal call.
鈥淚f people are caught breaking any provincial driving law, we鈥檒l charge them unless we see fit to warn them,鈥� said Mark.聽 鈥淎 lot of instances where people aren鈥檛 charged, we still have enough evidence to lay the charge.聽 A lot of times, people will call us on Monday when people are squealing tires or speeding through the street, and we鈥檒l go have a look for them, and if we don鈥檛 find them, then people have the impression that we didn鈥檛 do anything, whether they鈥檙e right or wrong.聽 And then if there鈥檚 some more action on the streets at night, they might not even bother calling us when we鈥檇 appreciate getting that call.聽 If we get two or three calls a day, we don鈥檛 mind that because we don鈥檛 always know when people are out causing problems.聽 We really rely on people making those calls.鈥�
In the past, Outlook has had different variations of the programs known as Citizens On Patrol and Rural Crime Watch.聽 As far as re-introducing something like that to the community now, Mark says it depends on how those programs are run, because they have a tendency to burn out on both sides of the 鈥榃orks/Doesn鈥檛 Work鈥� scale.
鈥淭here have been a number of different and successful Citizens On Patrol or Rural Crime Watch programs,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淚t all depends on the interest in the community, and where a number of these program actually fail is when they鈥檙e *too* efficient; when people are out keeping an eye out and watching and reporting crime, and crime goes down, then they believe there鈥檚 no use for the program anymore.聽 So if we did have them in Outlook and we only had two or three incidents reported to us in a month through Citizens On Patrol, they might think that it鈥檚 not worthwhile, whereas the visibility might be the cause of the decrease in crime.鈥�
Among the goals that Sgt. Langager has for his detachment, keeping a strong visibility in the community is key, as is traffic and tending to youth matters.
鈥淏oth traffic and police visibility are top priorities of ours,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淲e want to be visible in all the communities that we serve.聽 Youth is also a priority of ours, as well as crime reduction in all avenues, and that includes drugs in both the provincial and Criminal Code offences.聽 We also have a number of initiatives in those categories, but those are our general priorities.鈥�
For Mark, the best thing about serving as an RCMP officer is working to hopefully make a difference in someone鈥檚 life, no matter how big or small of an impact.
鈥淭he best thing for me is to try and make a difference in peoples鈥� lives,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 happen every day, but when I can help somebody out or one of my guys can help somebody out, that鈥檚 why I joined.鈥�
