As it turned out, 2013 was not as bad a year for crime in North Battleford as some might think.
Final numbers are in and Battlefords RCMP detachment reported notable declines in several crime categories in the city for the year.
That is based on the final December numbers compiled and presented to council Monday by the new Battlefords RCMP commander Insp. John Sutherland.
Not only were the overall 2013 numbers encouraging, but so were the December crime stats as well as fourth-quarter statistics that compared trends to the previous two years. Fourth quarter stats showed crime down across the board, even in what were usually more troublesome areas such as property crime and break and enters.
His report provided an antidote to what had been a steady diet of doom and gloom about high North Battleford crime numbers from residents, activists and the media over the past several months. Last Friday, Newcap Television in Lloydminster was the latest in a long line of news outlets to focus on North Battleford's crime situation, running a one-hour documentary on the subject.
Despite that, the overall crime numbers for the city turned out to be better than they had been in years. According to Sutherland, they were the lowest since 2009.
"This year 2013 was the second-lowest in overall statistics only to 2009 in the last five years," said Sutherland to council. "So we're seeing some positive trends in those numbers."
In 2013, calls for service dipped from 15,148 to 14,639.
Declines were registered in the categories of person offences, business break and enters, criminal code offences, drug offences, liquor act offences, impaired operation of motor vehicles and in municipal bylaw offences. There was also a drop in motor vehicle collisions in 2013.
The three areas that showed noticeable increases are residential break and enters, property offences and provincial traffic offences.
Property offences have long been a problem area in North Battleford and were up 11 per cent for the year, from 2,477 in 2012 to 2,744 in 2013.
Residential break and enters are up from 92 to 115 for the same period. The increase in that latter category has been attributed by police at prior meetings to the wave of school break-ins that took place in spring and early summer months. All are counted in the category.
Provincial traffic offences also were up from 2,474 to 2,626, an increase of six per cent. Beyond that, plenty of progress in the fight against crime could be seen in the 2013 numbers.
Despite some high profile incidents in the fall that included shootings and a stabbing-death murder, person offences were down for the year by six per cent from 867 to 813. Business break and enters were down slightly from 45 to 43. Criminal code offences were down 16 per cent from 2,036 to 1,707. Drug offences fell 33 per cent from 374 to 252. Liquor act offences were down nine per cent from 306 to 279. Impaired operation of a motor vehicle was down from 341 to 332, a difference of three per cent. And municipal bylaw offences were down 28 per cent for 2013, from 247 to 177.
Motor vehicle collisions were also down for the year from 322 to 290, a 10 per cent drop.
In addition to the yearly numbers were some encouraging statistics from the month of December that showed declines in several areas. Person offences for December were down from 69 the year before to 39 last month.
Business break and enters were down from three to zero, though residential break and enters went up to six from four. Property offences dropped from 148 to 122, criminal code offences dropped from 129 to 83 and provincial traffic offences fell from 77 to 65. Drug offences, however, went up to 15 from seven a year earlier.
Fourth-quarter crime statistics were also released at the meeting for the October-through-December period and those numbers showed declines almost across the board, including in the areas of property crime and break and enters.
There were 523 property crimes recorded in the fourth quarter compared to 526 for the same period in 2012 and 607 in 2011. Five business break and enters were recorded compared to 13 a year earlier, and 17 residential break and enters were recorded compared to 19 a year earlier and 24 in 2011.
Criminal code offences were down to 354 in 2013 compared to 445 in 2012 and 491 in 2011. Drug offences were down to 39 compared to 96 two years earlier, and person offences were down to 149 compared to 217 in 2012 and 215 in 2011.
Showing increases compared to 2012, though still lower than 2011 numbers, were the categories of liquor act offences (80, compared to 52 in 2012 and 86 in 2011) and impaired driving offences (89, compared to 63 and 90 respectively).
Provincial driving offences showed a slight decrease to 424 from 442 in 2012, though it was still higher than the 256 recorded in 2011.
In a departure from the previous two council meetings, the section known as "activities of interest" was not part of the monthly statistical report for December.
The RCMP continued foot patrols in December. Two were recorded that month, bringing the total for the year to 160.
That was raised as a concern by Councillor Cathy Richardson, who wanted to see those patrols increase.
As well, the RCMP took part in another Neighbourhood Watch meeting in December, and attended schools in North Battleford as part of their community relations activities. Students from Connaught School had a tour of the detachment in December as well.
RCMP members also performed approximately 100 patrols in the vicinity of the schools to increase visibility during the month.
