In keeping with the upward trend of previous years, calls for service, criminal code and property offences are on the rise, reports the RCMP.
At Battleford's regular town council meeting Monday, Jan. 23, Sgt. Jason Teniuk shared the final statistics of 2016 from the latest quarter report covering the period of October to December.
Last year saw a final tally of calls for service at 1,243, up from 1,028 the previous year.
The starkest increases were in property offences, up from 277 to 374 in 2016, criminal code offences, which rose from 93 to 120, and residence break and enters, which more than doubled to 32, up from 14 in 2015.
Teniuk admitted the increases seen in some categories can be unsettling, but said crime rates work in an "ebb and flow" pattern and the detachment will have a "more concentrated effort looking at those specific [issues]."
"Sometimes when you see increases, like with property [crime] increases, that concerns me," said Teniuk during the meeting.
"When I see increases in other things, like impaired driving, those things don't concern me because that means they're doing enforcement efforts. You want to see that. There's certain areas where we want to see increases. If we aren't doing anything about it then those calls for service in that area would be significantly lower."
Most categories saw light increases, although false alarms fell noticeably last year, which is good news, says Teniuk.
"I do like to see the false alarms [down]. We're going from 104 to 71. That's a lot of unnecessary work and a lot of grief and a lot of time. That's encouraging to me."
Other decreases came in municipal bylaws, down from 19 to 13, and in drug offences, down from 13 to nine. Teniuk doesn't expect that number to stay low, however.
"We were at 13 in 2015 and we're at nine in 2016. With our suppression shifts going on right now, I expect that to increase substantially. I would suggest we may be close to doubling that if the shifts are working the way I anticipate they will." Teniuk added, "[Battleford has] got the issues like any other community and there's drug issues here like anywhere else."
Teniuk also shared the efforts that have so far been implemented by the Battlefords RCMP, reading from a statement prepared by S/Sgt. Darcy Woolfitt.
To address property crime the detachment has undetaken some internal reshuffling and "are now moving to blend our rural and urban community safety strategies, recognizing that these issues know no boundaries."
Ultimately, states the report, the department realignment will develop the Community Safety Committees "with mixed representation from across the detachment area to provide input into the development of policing priorities" and implement a Community Safety Enhancement Strategy.
