Some 130 people turned out in Flower’s Cove on Saturday to outline their concerns about downgrades to RCMP service in the region, and they want a permanent police presence back in the community.

RCMP moved to a district model on the Great Northern Peninsula several years ago, resulting in extended wait times for police services in some communities.

Mayor Lynn Way highlights one case in which a woman had to wait for well over an hour for police and emergency response after suffering injuries in a case of intimate partner violence.

“She was lying on the floor for 1 hour and 40 minutes before there was a response from our local RCMP” Way told VOCM Open Line with Brian Callahan.

She says while paramedics are in the area, they cannot enter a property where a criminal act has occurred until RCMP clear the scene. She says the same is true if someone passes away in their own property. “EMS cannot move that person until RCMP respond.”