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Yellowknife RCMP went on four downtown foot patrols since July 1.

In June, city council passed a resolution recommending police boost their foot and bike patrols, specifically from 52 Avenue to Franklin Avenue (50 Avenue) and from 47 Street to 52 Street.

The RCMP committed to doing that, yet the increase has been modest. RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Josh Seaward said police do not log every time they speak with a member of the public, but engaging with residents is common on foot patrols and it has led to positive feedback. 

Seaward added that there is no easy way to determine if any of the four foot patrols led to an arrest. 

"Due to the way files are logged in the system, there is no easily searchable way to determine if further files (including those resulting in an arrest) originated from a foot patrol without manually reading them all, which is not feasible," he said.

Seaward added that police also will not disclose where and when foot patrols "might be concentrated" on the day-to-day basis for what he said were operational reasons.

ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø also asked how many bike patrols RCMP conducted, but the police did not provide a response. Two officers went on bike patrols on June 21, RCMP previously stated, while officers teamed up with the city's bylaw department to go on bike patrols on June 26.

Coun. Cat McGurk said that, as a municipality, the city has no control over how often RCMP — a federal service — patrol Yellowknife's downtown. Her concern is how well RCMP have been collaborating with city bylaw officers, which so far doesn't seem to be an issue, she said.