The April statistical report for the Battlefords RCMP detachment once again highlighted a continued trend downward of crime instances in North Battleford.
The total actual occurrences for North Battleford in April amounted to 877, compared to 1,267 for the same month in 2013. Overall, for the first four months of 2014 total actual occurrences were 3,158, compared to 4,284 for the same period in 2013.
That is a 26 per cent drop for the first four months of 2014 compared to a year ago. The April numbers alone show a 31 per cent drop from the same month a year earlier.
The monthly report was presented to city council Monday by Battlefords detachment Insp. John Sutherland. It was based on statistics compiled by the RCMP Operation Strategy Branch in Regina.
In general, Sutherland attributes the cold weather as a reason for the generally lower crime numbers for the first part of 2014. With the warmer weather, activity at the detachment has picked up, he noted.
"I notice it has been getting a lot busier," said Sutherland, who noted they fielded 110 calls at the detachment this past weekend. "We'll see what happens in the next couple of months as it gets warmer."
Still, councillors, including Greg Lightfoot, remain enthused by the continued lower numbers this year.
"It's good to see these decreases - it's a positive trend," said Lightfoot.
The monthly statistical report was prepared in a new and more comprehensive format compared with previous months. Included in the occurrence statistics summary was far greater detail about the individual types of crime occurring in the city, as well as numbers for those actual occurrences cleared by the RCMP as compared to reported occurrences.
The most notable change to the reporting was to list "reported" occurrences in addition to the number of "actual" occurrences that had been a regular part of the reports before. The reported occurrences would also include calls that would be investigated and prove unfounded.
The numbers show declines across the board for the most part in April. Unless otherwise noted, the following statistics are for actual occurrences.
In person offences, there were 51 actual occurrences in April, compared to 65 in April 2013. The largest number in the category were assaults, with 15 in April. Still, that is down by 19 from the same month a year earlier.
More troubling was the increase from seven to nine for the month in the category "assault with weapon or cause bodily harm". There were also four robberies for the month, up from two from the previous April.
Property offences saw 187 actual occurrences (216 reported) in April compared to 239 (273 reported) a year earlier. The largest number of occurrences in the category were mischief cases, a category that includes such things as vandalism and damage to property which has been a big concern to residents as of late.
While the mischief numbers are still high, they are on the way down. There were 124 actual occurrences in this category, as compared to 175 a year earlier.
While most property offences were down, break and enters were up slightly from 14 in April 2013 to 16 in April 2014. Also up were thefts of $5,000 or under from a motor vehicle, up to 10 in April compared to three in the same month in 2013. There was also an increase in the category theft of a motor vehicle over $5,000, from four to seven.
There were 125 actual occurrences in the "other criminal code offences" category, compared to 130 a year earlier. The vast majority, 95, were for disturbing the peace, up from 87 a year earlier.
Drug offences were down from 27 to six for the month, while federal statute offences saw a decline from 24 to five. Almost all of that total consisted of Youth Criminal Justice Act offences.
Provincial statute offences, however, were up from 41 in April 2013 to 68 in April 2014. The bulk of that increase came in Liquor Act offences, up from 19 to 40. Also up were 911 Act offences from 13 to 21.
There was a decline in the category of non-offence codes (covering non-Criminal Code matters) from 452 down to 273. That total for the month included 65 false alarms, 29 missing persons, 17 Mental Health Act "other activities," 30 in the 911 Act "other activities" and 30 calls for assistance.
Under the category of Criminal Code Traffic, there were 31 actual occurrences in April compared to 42 a year earlier. The largest number consisted of 20 impaired operation of a motor vehicle offences, down from 25 the year before.
Provincial traffic offences were also down, to 131 from 247 for the same month a year earlier.
For the year through April, persons offences are down 29 per cent to 183, property offences are down 19 per cent to 650, other Criminal Code offences are down 12 per cent to 388, drug offences are down 65 per cent to 37, federal statute offences are down 37 per cent to 34, non-offence codes are down 43 per cent to 929, Criminal Code Traffic is down 10 per cent to 117 and provincial traffic is down 15 per cent to 622.
For certain individual offences, assaults are down 46 per cent to 80, mischief cases are down 24 per cent to 409, theft under $5000 is down 17 per cent to 82, impaired operation of a motor vehicle is down 19 per cent to 67 and disturbing the peace is down six per cent to 253.
The only general category that saw an increase for the year is provincial statute offences, which rose to 198, a rise of 46 per cent from the same period a year earlier. The big driver was an increase in Liquor Act offences from 76 to 109, a rise of 43 per cent.
Of individual crimes, one notable increase was in the category of thefts under $5,000 from motor vehicles, up 125 per cent to 27 for the year through April.
Another increase, and one specifically mentioned by Insp. Sutherland Monday, was in the area of fraud. Identity fraud cases rose from two to seven for the year through April, with Sutherland saying the bulk of those were people using family or friends' names to avoid tickets.
Also increasing significantly was offender management from seven to 11, while offences against the administration of law and justice were up to six compared to one for the previous year. These include such things as failure to abide court orders, public mischief and other similar offences.
There were 16 foot patrols in April, and Insp. Sutherland pledged to get those increased in the coming months.
