(File photo/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

RCMP Update

RCMP crime report for city shows impaired driving, drug related offences up; break and enters down

Aug 18, 2020 | 10:02 AM

The latest RCMP crime report for North Battleford shows impaired driving and drug related offences up significantly compared to the same time last year. However, break and enters are down as a positive sign.

Inspector Tom Beck gave an update to council at Monday’s meeting on the quarterly report covering April 1 to June 30, and the year-to-date tally.

Overall, the report shows a six per cent increase in total calls for service for the year to date, bringing the 2020 total to 7,015 reports, compared to 6,589 for 2019. For the second quarter period, numbers actually decreased however.

Drug related offences increased by 59 per cent, with 78 reports for the current year to date compared to 49 for the same time last year. The second quarter also saw a notable increase, more than double last year’s period. There were 53 reports for April to June 2020, compared to 25 in 2019.

Impaired driving related reports increased by a whopping 85 per cent for the year to date, with 138 reports for the period for 2020, compared to 74 last year. The quarterly period also saw an increase with 66 reports for the current time, versus 42 for the same period last year.

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Beck credits proactive policing for clamping down on offenders in these two categories specifically.

Break and enters were down in North Battleford for both the residences and businesses, with decreases of six per cent and 30 per cent respectively for the year to date. For the second quarter there were nine business breaks ins reported, about half of the 17 reported for the same time last year. Residential break and enters saw 41 reports for the quarterly period, compared to 68 for the same time last year.

Mental Health Act calls were up significantly, with an increase by 66 per cent for the year to date. The April to June period saw an increase also, with 184 reports for the current period, compared to 95 for the same time last year. Beck said these types of calls cover a range of situations.

“It can be drug overdoses where people are not capable of taking care of themselves,” he said. “It could be suicidal [issues]. Essentially it comes down to typically people in crisis. Lots of times the Mental Health Act could be somebody high on drugs and not knowing where they are and becoming a danger to themselves or to others through whatever it is they are doing. It is typically something where we are not looking at criminal charges. It is something other than a criminal charge that brought us there essentially.”

Provincial traffic offences were down for the year to date and the second quarter. The second quarter tally was 363 reports, compared to 788 for the same time last year.

“Through the pandemic, the downtown core was pretty scarce of vehicles for some time,” Beck said.

He added that due to the pandemic, the RCMP also had some protocols in place to protect members and the public, as well to minimize some officer-violator contact as a safety measure.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW