By Angela Brown

City, RCMP optimistic despite crime stats

Jul 28, 2017 | 8:27 AM

While the latest Statistics Canada crime numbers indicate the city of North Battleford has the worst results in the country, North Battleford’s community partners say local initiatives are helping improve the situation.

North Battleford continues to have a poor report card when it comes to crime numbers overall, according to the latest Crime Severity Index (CSI) reflecting the volume of crime for 2016, released July 24. While its violent crime numbers have dropped slightly, its non-violent numbers have increased.

The Battlefords RCMP and city officials remain positive, however, with new strategies to deal with crime and prevent it before it happens.

The city of North Battleford reported its non-violent crime has increased by 15 per cent in 2016. North Battleford remains the number one community in Canada for the Non-Violent Crime Severity Index and number one overall.

However, the municipality no longer holds the top spot in the country in the Violent Crime Severity Index.

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“We are encouraged to see our standing in the violent crime category decrease by eight per cent, which is a large decrease,” said City of North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater. ”This happened at the same time the rest of the province went up nine per cent.”

The CSI numbers indicate North Battleford scored the highest ranking in the country, at 352.89 overall in 2016, up from 327.22 in 2015, based on a population of more than 10,000. The city’s number also peaked in 2016 in the past five years’ counts. 

The city’s non-violent crime CSI numbers experienced an increase at 357.89 in 2016, higher than 312.30 in 2015, and highest in the country for the population index.

However, violent crime decreased to 337.13 in 2016, compared to 366.34 a year prior.

Bater said of the report overall that while North Battleford gets branded with a high CSI number, “it’s definitely a regional problem.”

The city has a number of ways to address non-violent crime.

Increasing the number of Community Safety Officers is one way the city is helping follow-up on non-violent crime reports.

The city also has a safety HUB effort in place involving a multi-agency approach to help prevent crime.

Bater said 21 per cent of the non-violent crime is preventable, adding property theft is a chief culprit.

The city has developed a public awareness campaign to educate residents about the importance of being proactive – installing proper motion detectors to protect their property, not leaving their keys and valuables in their vehicles, and remembering to lock their vehicles. They should also get to know their neighbours.

The city also has the Citizens on Patrol volunteer group that works with the RCMP by reporting suspicious activity in the community.

Battlefords RCMP Inspector John Sutherland said people need to be careful when they look at statistics, since the numbers don’t always reflect the full picture. 

“One of the challenges here is we do have a smaller catchment base,” he said. “If there were 10 instances of something last year and 15 this year, [then] that would be reported as a 50 per cent increase, when in actual fact it’s a small number.” He said because of the small sampling used for the statistical data here, it tends to sometimes result in a bigger number.

When looking at the causes of crime in North Battleford, Sutherland said “there are a lot of factors that go into making up that CSI number.”

He pointed to a number of social issues affecting crime numbers, while adding North Battleford’s concerns are similar to other communities its size.

Sutherland said a number of social and support agencies, as well as health districts work together with the police to help people at risk – whether they are suffering from substance abuse, a lack of housing, or dealing with mental health and addictions problems. 

“We have to look at the cause of the addiction issues, who [is affected], and try to work with the people before they need to contact the police… to maybe reduce the calls for service to the police and/or visits to health units and other agencies, by helping them manage their life and their lifestyle,” said the RCMP inspector.

He added locally the city is fortunate to have mental health services and a shelter to offer support.

“Everybody is working together to try to find those common solutions for those folks that need the services,” said Sutherland.

The local RCMP is developing a strategic plan by connecting with community partners and taking their concerns into consideration in its decision-making. 

The Battlefords RCMP held its annual strategic plan development meeting Tuesday to gather input from the city of North Battleford, as well as neighbouring communities, which the RCMP can use to direct its resources and strategies.

Battlefords MLA Herb Cox pointed out North Battleford is still a safe community in which to live, regardless of the numbers.

“I have family living here and I have lived here for 40-some years,” he said. “I think our police force is doing a great job. Unfortunately, crime is an ongoing thing; they are doing everything in their power to try to alleviate that.” 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW