The government of Manitoba has signed an agreement with the City of Brandon to facilitate a centralized dispatch centre to further support Conservation Officers across the province.
"Our Conservation Officers will have a dispatch available to them, for officers to call, but more importantly for officer safety, for officers to check in, for officers to run license plates, things like that," explained Honourable Greg Nesbit, Minister of Natural Resources and Northern Development. "It's been a long time coming. We've never had a dispatch service before, so it's a historic day for Manitoba."
Manitobans will continue to call the TIPS line when witnessing illegal hunting/fishing activity.
"Those emergent calls will now be routed to the Brandon call centre and then go to officers to respond immediately," he noted, "where before it went to the TIPS line, but it didn't necessarily get out to the officers right away. So, this will be an improvement for Manitobans who need a Conservation Officer in an emergent situation."
The Brandon Conservation office on Queens Avenue is being re-opened with two officers stationed at that location.
Recruitment continues for Manitoba Conservation, with 9 new officers graduating this summer from their training program in Alberta. Upon completing their training, they will join the compliment of approximately 120 CO's across the Province.
"The Brandon office will be the central focus point for Westman and will allow us to move officers around when necessary, when we're doing night patrols particularly in the hunting season, to stop poaching and to ensure safety of rural Manitobans," added Nesbit.
Please listen to more of the interview on Manitoba's Conservation Officer efforts with Minister Gregg Nesbit and CJRB's Betty Sawatzky below.
Manitoba Conservation Turn in Poachers line (TIP): 1-800-782--0076.