Crime statistics and perceptions of crime were two of many topics that came up at a recent RCMP town hall meeting in North Battleford.
RCMP lay a number of charges against suspects for certain incidents, Sgt. Jason Teniuk said, such as for drive-by shootings.
Long lists of charges are often posted at North Battleford provincial court.
Teniuk also said the Battlefords detachment has high clearance rates, meaning, as he put it, "we charge a lot of people, we throw a lot of people in jail."
Teniuk said local RCMP "catch up with a lot of [criminals]."
MacLean's Magazine applied and popularized the descriptor of "dangerous" to communities with high Crime Severity Index scores.
Teniuk said the label of dangerous applied to North Battleford is "all up to everybody's individual perspective," adding "if you've been a victim of crime then you might feel that way."
Regarding the Crime Severity Index, Teniuk said "don't get all tied up with that."
"If we're having people getting shot left right and centre and the community's in mayhem," Teniuk said, "then we have a problem to deal with. But I'd argue we're a ways away from that."
