Antigonish RCMP Staff Sgt. Kim Hillier was among the representatives who met with Heatherton and Frankville residents on Monday night to discuss an uptick in local crime.

Hillier said the meeting came about following a request to the RCMP from Antigonish County Councillor Harris McNamara about three weeks ago following a number of serious crimes taking place in the Havre Boucher area. Hillier said there was a violent crime in the area about two months ago, community concerns about drug activity in the area, and a recent fire arm related crime.

During Monday’s town hall style meeting at the Havre Boucher Community Centre, Hillier said over 275 residents attended, which she said was an amazing turn out. They went through questions on what is happening in the area, what the RCMP is doing to handle those situations, and what the public can do to help the RCMP.

In terms of what the RCMP is doing, Hillier said they are looking at their offender management program, where they deal with offenders released back into communities with conditions, and make sure they are complying with those conditions to reduce recidivism. Hillier said they are also doing focussed patrols on areas the community pointed out as high risk or areas of criminality.

Hillier said the RCMP appreciate the number of people who came out to the meeting.

RCMP have plans for more town hall type meetings, with one in November and one early in the new year, with the locations being announced as they become available.