Estevan may be experiencing an increase in the number of domestic violence situations.
Speaking at the Sept. 8 meeting of the Estevan Board of Police Commissioners, police Chief Paul Ladouceur said the Estevan Police Service has been consulting with the Envision Counselling and Support Centre regarding the number of domestic situations.
Domestic incidents often aren’t reported, he said, so it might not show up in the numbers the police release. But the chief believes the economic slowdown in the Estevan area has resulted in more incidents.
“When people are laid off work, or if the economy is down, we tend to notice an increase … of these situations,” said Ladouceur. “People start stressing out over finances and things like that, and it increases tension in the home.”
Anyone who is a victim of domestic violence is urged to call police.
As for the monthly numbers, police responded to 596 incidents and calls for service in August. Twenty-two were unfounded. A total of 217 were cleared by charges, and 44 were listed as cleared otherwise, for a clearance rate of 45.5 per cent.
A year earlier, there were 1,116 total incidents and infractions in August, with 26 listed as unfounded. The clearance rate was 62.3 per cent, with 620 cleared by charge and 59 more as cleared otherwise.
Also during the meeting, the bylaw enforcement officer’s August report was released. There were 198 occurrences for August. Among the calls were 44 for general clean-up, 42 for parking violations, 24 were for animal calls and 20 were for unkempt properties.
The financial statements were also released during the meeting. The EPS had revenues of $658,374 during the first eight months of the year. The total budget for the year is $860,500. Total expenditures through Aug. 31 were at about $2.84 million, while the total budget for the year is nearly $4.8 million.
