Battlefords RCMP Sgt. Carl Dinsdale presents the latest crime stats at city council Monday, showing an overall reduction in calls. Break and enters increased from Jan. to March, while property offences were down. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Crime tally

N.B. crime numbers down overall: RCMP

Apr 23, 2019 | 4:53 PM

North Battleford seems to be getting a reprieve on the crime-front overall, based on the RCMP’s latest report for calls for service in the first quarter.

Sgt. Carl Dinsdale presented the report for January to March on behalf of Staff Sgt. Darcy Woolfitt at city council’s meeting Monday, saying “overall statistics are down almost 100 calls compared to the year previous in the same time period.”

The January to March tally was 2,697, compared to 2,792 for the same time last year.

When looking at the breakdown in the report, break and enters were up while property offences such as thefts saw a decrease, among some of the categories.

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“The bulk of our crimes are based in social issues,” Dinsdale said of some of the findings.

The RCMP report indicated the Police and Crisis Team (PACT) have been making a difference in their work dealing with mental health and addictions issues. In the first quarter the team dealt with 71 calls for service, saving 142 hours of time RCMP members would have otherwise spent waiting in cases requiring medical assistance.

Dinsdale talked about the success of the PACT team in helping people in the community dealing with mental health issues, and in working with other supportive agencies and partners.

The report also indicated the RCMP are focusing on Targeted Crime Suppression Patrols and developing a long-term strategy for policing to target prolific offenders.

In the report, break and enters to businesses saw a rise, at 16 reports for the quarter — more than double the seven reported for the same period in 2018. Residential break and enters also saw a leap, with 46 reported for the current period, compared to 30 last year.

Impaired driving offences amounted to 45 reports, one up from last year’s tally for the period.

Vehicle collisions were up slightly, with 76 reported for the period, compared to 70 last year.

Criminal code offences saw a rise, with 428 reported in 2019, versus 411 last year.

False alarm numbers had a notable increase, with 88 reports versus 48 last year.

Among categories that saw a decrease, crimes against persons were down in the recent stats, at 254 for the first quarter, versus 280 for the same period in 2018.

“It’s nice to see those come down,” Dinsdale said. “Those are the crimes that tend to cause the most unrest for people or discomfort knowing those types of crimes were committed in the community.”

Property offences such as theft and mischief were a little less than last year but still significant. This quarter saw 613 reports, compared to 664 for the same time in 2018.

Drug offences were down significantly, at 24 for the period in 2019, compared to 41 in 2018’s quarter.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow