The newest addition to the Estevan Police Service (EPS) has enjoyed her time in the community thus far.
Const. Katelynn Ruthven, speaking at the May 20 meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners, said she has been getting to know the community, and has found the experience to be great.
She applied to be part of the EPS, and then went through the provincial police college.
Acting EPS Chief Warren Morrical said Ruthven likely had the strangest police college experience out of anyone he knows, thanks to the modified duration.
“They truncated it a month prior to the normal schedule,” said Morrical. “They had a whole bunch of stuff they had to get done in a short period of time.”
Students in the college had to approach it like a bubble, with classmates, several instructors and others coming together in a small unit.
With less time at police college, there’s a greater onus on field training for Ruthven. Const. Michelle Beaulieu will be responsible for the field training.
“Katelynn was above expectations when it comes to her positive attitude and interactions with her colleagues, and I can suggest to you that academically she is consistently at or above her class average in all aspects. In her last block, in the last month or so she was in class, she scored above expectation or superior in effective communications, professionalism, ethics and integrity,” said Morrical.
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The EPS handled 752 calls for service and incidents last month, up from 494 in April 2020. In the first four months of the year, they had 2,791 calls, compared to 2,686 through April 30, 2020.
As far as the crime statistics are concerned for the first four months of the year, the EPS had 37 crimes against the person, compared to 63 in 2020; 70 crimes against property versus 118 the previous year; 17 Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) charges, down from 23 in 2020; one charge under the Cannabis Act versus none in 2020; and 37 Criminal Code traffic violations, down from 41 a year earlier.
As for April itself, the number of crimes against the person dropped from 23 in 2020 to 12 in 2021, crimes against property dropped from 23 to 17, CDSA charges slid from seven to four, but Criminal Code traffic charges increased from nine to 15.
Morrical noted that two of the three trafficking charges were for the same person in different incidents. The latter trafficking charge stemmed from an incident on Isabelle Street in which a vehicle collided with several parked vehicles.
The number of charges for impairment by drug increased from three in April 2020 to six last month, which Morrical said is due to an improved ability to detect those under the influence of certain drugs.
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The EPS received 16 calls for possible COVID-related infractions last month, with one resulting in a charge. So far this year, they have received 54 calls, with five charges under the Public Health Act for failing to wear a mask in a public place as required and one charge for holding a gathering in a residence.
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Special Constable Morgan Prentice, who is the bylaw enforcement officer, handled 134 occurrences last month. Unkempt properties accounted for the largest share of activity with 58 inspections. She also had 24 parking violations and 16 animal calls.
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Mayor Roy Ludwig, who chairs the police board, said one resident would like to see speed humps installed on Thorn Crescent and Grundeen Crescent. Both roads are very narrow, with space for just one vehicle to get through if there is a vehicle parked on each side of the route.
Speed humps are already in place on Wellock Road.
The other concern raised was people who speed on back alleys on Princess Street. The speed limit on back alleys in Estevan is 20 kilometres per hour.
