No officer assigned to Maskall Police Station

While there hasn’t been a murder in Santana for decades, the death of Maurice Young has highlighted what residents call rising crime in other rural communities on the old northern road. There is a police station in Maskall, about five miles from Santana, but there is no police officer stationed there. The building appears adequate, but we were told that the interior is in deplorable condition, dilapidated and infested with bats. When there’s any trouble, the nearest police assistance must come all the way from Sandhill. The residents are concerned, and today Rural Executive Officer, Assistant Superintendent Christopher Noble, told us that those concerns will be addressed in the short term.

ASP Christopher Noble, Rural Executive Officer

“We did have a police officer posted in Maskall. That officer has recently been placed in another area. Now we are looking at what we can do to get Maskall up and running. As early as today I spoke to somebody from that area and we were hoping that some estimates could be brought forward and we could do some urgent repairs that the building needs. Whether or not we have officers there will be crime but we have identified two officers for that area. They have started working that area. They do that on motorcycles and they go into the area daily. They provide weekly reports of their achievements and all matters in regard to the area are referred to them. It is only a recent development but it is a development that we will be expounding on so that we can at least satisfy people in the area that the Police will be there to answer their every call.”

Reporter

Christopher Noble

“Sir, what’s currently the problem with the Maskall Police Station. Is it uninhabitable or are there structural failures?”

ASP Christopher Noble

“It’s not structural failures. We have to understand that the building has been there for some time. It is in a state of somewhat disrepair. We have to identify the funding to repair and it may not be an overnight process. We are working with other people to get that information that we can put it forward and get it accepted. The process is somewhat lengthy but not an impossibility. We will definitely bring that station up and running the way it should be pretty shortly.”