EPS saw an increase in assaults in February, decrease in calls for service

ESTEVAN - There was a slight decrease in calls for the Estevan Police Service in February and in the first two months of the year.The number of calls for service for Estevan police last month was 442, down from 635 in February a year earlier. On the year-to-date basis, the EPS has also seen a 25 per cent drop in activity, with calls going from 1,270 in 2021 to 956 so far this year.However, a category of crimes against the person saw a significant increase last month and on a year-to-date basis. According to data released at the March 16 meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners, there were 17 crimes against the person in February 2022 with 16 of them being assaults and one sexual crime. In February 2021, there were only eight crimes against the person.In the first two months of 2022 Estevan witnessed 29 crimes of this type as opposed to only 13 a year earlier, which is a 123 per cent increase on a year-to-date basis.Estevan Police Chief Richard Lowen said the assaults more than doubled not only in February from the same month last year, but it's the tendency he noticed over the five-year average as well."I looked at the content of what the assaults are about, and 50 per cent of those are domestic assaults. Not a specific cause other than a majority of the assaults seem to have alcohol-related tendencies," Lowen said. "Other than that, there's nothing specific that it's a change, whether or not it's a lift, whether or not it's a steady occurrence, we just have to track it month over month for now."Crimes against property are down on a year-to-date basis but on par when compared to last February. Nine crimes against property were reported in February 2022, with one residential break and enter, two thefts of motor vehicles, four thefts under $5,000 and two mischief/willful damage cases. Up to this point, there were 29 crimes against property committed in Estevan this year, as compared to 31 over the same period last year, which is a six per cent decrease.

Three charges were laid under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in February, all for trafficking. It is one charge less than in February 2021. On a year-to-date basis, eight charges were laid under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in 2022, and seven up to this time in 2021, which is a 14 per cent increase.

And there were four Criminal Code Traffic violations in February 2022, all for impaired driving/exceeding-related charges. There were seven such crimes committed in February 2021. On a year-to-date basis, there were nine cases reported in this section in 2022, and 10 over the same period of time in 2021, which is a 10 per cent decrease.

Meanwhile, it was noted the collective bargaining agreement between the police board and the Estevan Police Association expired at the end of 2021, and they are now in process of coming up with a new one.

The report for bylaw enforcement officers Monica Prentice showed that there were 64 monthly occurrences last month.  

The majority of February's activities were parking violations at 33. There were also nine animal calls, six parking complaints and a few other calls. 

The EPS is currently down to one bylaw enforcement officer, and that will be the case for some time, as they are seeking a temporary replacement for the second member.The board also questioned if the budget was still enough to cover the growing gas prices. Lowen said that so far they are going to remain within the budget, but if the prices remain high or keep growing, next year the budget will need to be "tweaked".Board member and City Councillor Shelly Veroba suggested that they address this issue on a broader scale and potentially ask the city council to bring it up to the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Assocation, requesting some provincial or federal support. "I wonder … if there's a way for all these municipalities if gas prices continue like this if there is a way the federal government can help out for emergency service budgets. It would be nice if there was some sort of a rebate based on what you spent, that they get back a portion of the tax, carbon tax even or something just because of the fact that with emergency services, all municipalities are going to have to carry the burden," Veroba said.

It was agreed to discuss it further down the line.