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Crime numbers down overall in town of Battleford

Oct 19, 2017 | 10:50 AM

For the most part, it’s been good news for town of Battleford residents concerned about crime as numbers have seen a drop overall, based on the latest police report.

For the year to date count, the RCMP total calls for service came in at 834, significantly less than the prior year’s 984 count for the same period.

Battlefords RCMP Insp. John Sutherland presented his July to September third-quarter report at council Monday.

Mayor Ames Leslie said there are still some crime categories he would like to see come down.     

“The overall calls were down over 100 calls,” said Leslie.”It varied over various aspects, but it was good to see break and enters and property theft and all that were down.” 

“He [Sutherland] did mention there were a few increases in drinking and driving, which is definitely something that we hope they continue to patrol and look for. We don’t want that in our community,” added the mayor. 

Impaired driving also increased, with 22 reported for the year to date in 2017, slightly higher than 20 from the same time last year. The quarterly count for 2017 was six reports, double the 2016 count of three.

Looking at the more serious offences, for the year to date, there were 217 property offences, compared to 308 for the same period last year.

For the third quarter, police responded to 94 calls for these offences, compared to 109 for the same time last year. 

Residential break and enters totaled 21 for the year to date, slightly less than the 25 reported for the same time in 2016. In the three-month period, there were four B&Es, versus seven for the period last year.

For break and enters to businesses, police responded to seven calls, a little less than 11 last year, in the year to date count. For the quarterly period, police received four reports, almost twice the 2016 count of seven.

Crimes against persons, such as assaults, amounted to 82 for the year to date, one less than the prior year. For 2017 from July to September, police responded to 24 calls, less than the 30 count for this period in 2016.

Criminal code offences also decreased, with 84 for the year to date count, compared to 98 last year. The quarterly period saw an increase in this category, however, with 39 cases reported in 2017 compared to 24 for the same time last year.  

Drug offences were up, coming in at 11 for the year to date, compared to six last year. From July to September, police responded to six of these offences, a rise from the one report for the same time last year.  

“I’ve previously reported before we are going to try to look more at targeted enforcement on drugs. We’re seeing that on both sides of the river,” said Insp. Sutherland. He added the RCMP have been successful in making some related arrests in North Battleford recently.   

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow