The Estevan Police Service saw a 15 per cent decrease in call volume on a year-to-date basis for the first two months of the year, and also a general decrease in various crimes.
The situation was discussed during the Estevan board of police commissioners' latest meeting held on March 17.
The only area that saw an increase in Criminal Code numbers was the Controlled Drug and Substances Act with four cases of possession of drugs registered in February 2021 as opposed to just one drug trafficking case in February 2020. On a year-to-date basis, there were seven charges in 2021 as opposed to five in 2020.
Other areas saw a decrease. There were only five crimes against the person reported, with one sexual crime and four assaults in February 2021, as opposed to 17 the year before. On a year-to-date basis, EPS saw a 58 per cent decrease in crimes against the person, from 24 to 10.
Crimes against property are also down 58 per cent in comparison to the same period in 2020 (from 62 to 26). In February 2021 there were two break and enters into businesses, one theft of other motor vehicle and four thefts under $5,000, for a total of seven occurrences, as opposed to 21 crimes against property in February 2020.
There were zero Cannabis Act violations last month and this year.
Criminal Code Traffic Violations were down 52 per cent from 21 cases last year to 10 this year. In February there were three impaired/exceed related offences, one impaired by drug case and three dangerous driving cases.
EPS received 610 calls for service last month. On a year-to-date basis, their calls are down from 1,459 to 1,241.
"We are seeing a downward trend, which is nice to see. Whether that's a COVID-related downward trend or whether it's a true downward trend, that will be hard to say for sure until the restrictions start to lift," Chief Paul Ladouceur said.
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Special Constable Morgan Prentice, who is the bylaw enforcement officer, was busy throughout February with 12 animal calls, 20 parking violations, two animal violations, two animal impounds, six parking complaints, two calls related to cat traps, 19 unkempt property inspections, eight snow removal notices, one summons, six other bylaw and four taxi bylaw calls.
On a year-to-date basis, the bylaw enforcement officer dealt with 47 parking violations, as opposed to 49 last year. She also conducted 40 unkempt property inspections as opposed to 13 up to the end of February 2020.
In comparison to the same period in 2020, there was a significant increase in animal calls (31 this year versus one last year), other bylaw (10 vs. one) and taxi bylaw issues (22 vs. 3).
Ladouceur explained that issues with taxi bylaw had to do with the renewal of taxi licences, which were due. He also pointed out that unkempt properties are a big focus right now with the weather getting nicer, which resulted in an increase in numbers.
Board member and City Councillor Shelly Veroba brought up a concern voiced by a resident living in 1300-block of Fourth Street, who received a parking ticket for being parked for over two hours by their house. The resident was wondering if something could be done to allow residents and their guests to be able to park by residents' houses for as long as needed. They also complained about the inconsistency of ticketing, pointing out that if there are no exceptions then everybody should be ticketed. The board agreed to forward the information to the traffic committee for further decisions.
Another board member, Councillor Lindsay Clark also voiced a suggestion to move one of the digital speed panels over to the west part of King Street. It was brought to him that there is a lot of fast traffic there, and a panel can help to remind drivers to check their speed. Ladouceur said that it's time to rotate the two panels Estevan has and the location will be considered.
