In presenting quarterly statistics to the Battleford town council members Monday, Cpl. Dereck Wierzbicki of the RCMP said, “Crime stats have dropped pretty much across the board compared to 2013 and 2012.”
He also had something to say about youth crime.
“Youth crime here is phenomenally low, which is really nice to see. I think that comments a lot on the type of people who live in this community, and strong parenting, to have youth crime [statistics] like this,” he said. “I haven’t seen it in my 10 years. It seems to be a bit of a problem wherever I’ve been.”
Cpl. Wierzbicki moved to the Battlefords detachment in July 2014. He and his family live in the Telegraph Heights subdivision in Battleford.
Although, he said, when it comes to crime, anything can happen at any time, he feels good about Battleford.
“I feel safe here. I feel it’s safe for my family, for my kids to be out and about,” he said. “I think, overall, we’re pretty blessed with what we have here, however there’s always room for improvement.”
The report, referring to statistics from October to December 2014, showed 11 person offences, eight Criminal Code offences, one drug offence, one Liquor Act offence, six motor vehicle collisions, 13 provincial traffic offences, eight impaired operation of motor vehicle offences, two municipal bylaw offences, 22 false alarms and 15 assistance calls.
Of those offenses only two had youth involvement, one among the person offences and one among the Criminal Code offences.
There were also 46 property offences, which Cpl. Wierzbicki said could include anything from vandalism to escorting unwanted people off private property.
