RCMP Insp. Tom Beck gives city council some highlights of the latest crime report. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff) 

By Angela Brown

In the chambers

City crime stats show proactive policing nets results

Jan 28, 2020 | 3:17 PM

The latest crime report for North Battleford shows some generally favourable results gleaned from the numbers, with decreases in various categories.

The overall tally for calls increased in 2019 but there were a number of decreases for various serious-crime categories. Proactive policing also helped catch more offenders on the road.

RCMP Insp. Tom Beck gave a report to North Battleford council Monday on the numbers.

“Overall we’re actually in pretty good shape,” Beck said. “The big percentage jumps we have are provincial traffic offences and impaired [driving] investigations.”

The officer said rather than looking at the fourth quarter from October to December 2019 alone, it is often better to look for trends when analyzing the stats. The end-of-year results offered comparisons for 2019 and the year prior.

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While the total calls for service for the city for 2019 increased by seven per cent from the 2018 tally, there were notable drops in a number of major crime categories.

Residential break and enters increased by 11 per cent in 2019, while in comparison persons offences, such as assaults and robberies decreased by 11 per cent over the 2018 numbers.

Business break and enters also declined by 30 per cent as a positive trend.

Beck said seeing a drop in a number of concerning categories is a good sign.

Impaired driving reports increased 17 per cent in the 2019 year-end results, while provincial traffic offences leaped by a staggering 83 per cent compared to 2018.

Beck said these increased numbers mainly represent an uptick in traffic patrols in the area.

“That’s a proactive stat, so that’s not a bad thing,” he said.

The latest RCMP crime report for North Battleford was presented to council Monday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Deputy Mayor Kelli Hawtin said it’s helpful to see the breakdown from the latest report.

“Council was optimistic with the reduction in different categories,” she said.

Of the increase in provincial traffic offences she said that is the result of increased traffic stops and proactive policing, so “we’re glad to have our police working in a proactive manner.”

Coun. Greg Lightfoot also commended the RCMP for their efforts.

“Keep up the good work,” he said.

Beck said in giving his update, the detachment has not had any vacancies to fill for the most part this past quarter period which is helpful.

He also noted Staff Sgt. Darcy Woolfitt is leaving the local detachment for a role focusing on provincial crime reduction.

“It’s a large loss actually to the detachment in losing Darcy,” Beck said. “But he is going to the crime reduction team so it might be beneficial for us to have an ally over there as well. So it’s excellent to see him over there.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow