Overall crime numbers down in town in latest RCMP report

When looking at the third-quarter period, overall calls for service were down for the town by six per cent, compared to the same time last year.

However, drug offences saw a significant increase, up by 200 per cent, with nine offences reported in 2021 compared to three in 2020. Over the past five years, from 2017 to 2021, there has been a 150 per cent increase in drug offences.

Teniuk attributed the increase to the Battlefords RCMP Gang Task Force doing their job, getting drugs off the street.

“That is a good thing,” he said. “That is exactly what you are hoping to see. That was really due to our Gang Task Force doing work here, doing work everywhere.”

He said when there is a large increase in drug offence reports, resulting in arrests and drug seizures, it can cause other categories to come down significantly.

However, Teniuk added when there are more drug busts, typically it results in more property crime since drugs are harder to come by.

“People have to get more income to pay for them,” he said.

Teniuk said he hasn’t noticed a great deal of that scenario on the Battleford side of the river. But on the North Battleford side it’s a different story.

“On this side we have not seen a lot of that, so that’s good,” he said.

Property crimes in the town increased by six per cent, at 95 in 2021 for the quarterly period, compared to 90 last year.

In other categories, harassment and uttering threats reported increased by 17 per cent, with 14 reports for the third quarter period in 2021 versus 12 the year prior.

Mischief offences increased by 39 per cent, at 53 in 2021 for the period, compared to 38 for the same time last year.

Overall, most categories saw a decrease in activity.

Break and enters to businesses dropped 100 per cent, with no reports in 2021 for the quarter, versus three last year for the same time. Similarly, residential break and enters went down by 43 per cent, with four reports in 2021 for the period, compared to seven in 2020.

Thefts were down by 19 per cent, with 25 reports in 2021 for the quarter, versus 31 last year.

Impaired-driving reports were down significantly with an 86 per cent drop, at two in 2021 for the period, versus 14 in 2020.

In giving a summary of some of the RCMP’s efforts, Teniuk said the Battlefords RCMP Gang Task Force’s work in the Battlefords resulted in $250,000 worth of cocaine removed from the streets during the quarterly period.

In other news, Teniuk said staffing at the Battlefords RCMP detachment has been down a bit unfortunately.

“We can always use more people, but at this point we’re holding our own,” he said.

Teniuk added that several officers attended an anti-racism training program recently, after being invited by the town since some town councillors were also completing the training.

“It was a very unique experience for all of us; we enjoyed it,” he said. “We are looking at doing something like that for all of our complement.”

Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by Angela Brown

Overall crime numbers down in town in latest RCMP report

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