September was another month of downward trends in the statistics for Battlefords City Detachment of the RCMP.
Calls for service were down for the month from 1,434 a year ago to 918. Totals for the year through September were also down from last year, from 11,826 to 9,547.
The numbers were presented by S/Sgt. Howard Nodwell of Battlefords RCMP at the City's monthly Planning Committee meeting Monday night.
He called the numbers "promising" for September. Drops were recorded in person offences from 70 to 62, residential break and enters from 13 to six, property offences from 240 to 163, criminal code offences from 177 to 144, provincial traffic offences from 323 to 125 and also impaired operation of a motor vehicle from 32 to 26. The categories of business break and enters, drug offences and liquor acts were all up slightly for the month.
The drop in provincial traffic offence numbers, Nodwell noted, was mainly due to the move of the traffic officer to general duties at the detachment.
Overall for the year through September person offences are down 22 per cent, business break and enters down 31 per cent, residential break and enters are down 13 per cent, property offences are down 24 per cent, criminal code offences are down five per cent, drug offences are down 47 per cent, provincial traffic offences are down 45 per cent and impaired driving offences are down 13 per cent. The only category showing an increase for the year is liquor act offences, from 201 to 242 for a 20 per cent increase.
Also presented were crime statistics for the third quarter of 2014, showing trends for 2012 to 2014. Every crime category recorded a decline from where things were in 2012, though provincial statute offences and criminal code traffic offences were up from a year ago.
Third quarter stats recorded 190 persons offences, 649 property offences, 479 other criminal code offences, 29 drug offences, 21 federal statute offences, 186 provincial statute offences, 972 non-offence codes, 107 criminal code traffic offences and 614 provincial traffic offences.
That compared to 2012 figures of 252 persons offences, 741 property offences, 564 other criminal code offences, 80 drug offences, 51 federal statute offences, 205 provincial statute offences, 1375 non-offence codes, 138 criminal code traffic offences and 654 provincial traffic offences.
Fire Chief Albert Headrick also presented bylaw enforcement numbers for the month, reporting 505 hours and 24 minutes spent in man hours with a total number of events they took part in of 978.
Headrick noted 55 of them were patrols in school zones, and bylaw enforcement also recorded 11 foot patrols which, along with 39 foot patrols recorded by the RCMP detachment, brought the total for September to 50 foot patrols - an increase that was welcomed by councillors at Monday's meeting.
Headrick also presented firefighting numbers for the month, with September being a busy month. His department responded to a rash of fires over a 56-hour period one weekend.
There was one residential and five commercial fires in September, and eight dumpster fires for the month. Dumpster fires are still down for the year, however, from 20 to 13.
