A 45 per cent jump in the number of false alarms RCMP officers responded to in 2014 ended up the most alarming fact of the evening.
Athabasca RCMP Staff Sgt. Brian Scott was at town council last Tuesday to present the detachment’s final quarterly report as well as the 2014 final statistics.
As it turned out, false alarms – 161 compared to 111 in 2013 – caused the most concern for the councillors that were there. Councillors Joanne Peckham and Nichole Adams were absent.
Scott explained a lot of time and effort is expended on these calls as officers must respond to each one.
“They attend as if it were something, until they find otherwise,” he said, adding most incidences occur when a business is opening or closing and care isn’t taken to properly operate the alarm system.
Scott also stated it’s the same at calls to residences with alarms, which could be avoid in both cases by calling the alarm company to explain so police won’t have to respond.
Councillors Tim Verhaeghe and Shelly Gurba were curious about what happens after its found to be a false alarm, and were quite shocked that it’s up to the municipality to enact bylaws in order for police to do anything.
Scott stated Athabasca is one of the very few communities he has worked in that doesn’t have a bylaw regarding false alarms.
Most places with a bylaw allow one or two false alarms before tickets are dished out, and even then the fine is nominal, but goes up rapidly as the number of false alarms go up.
“It made it a bit of an incentive for businesses to be more careful,” stated Scott.
Mayor Roger Morrill was quite to jump on the bandwagon, having experienced a few visits in the past from the RCMP to false alarms at his business due to a faulty system.
“I understand what it is like and I find it alarming how many that police have to attend,” he said.
Morrill stated this issue will definitely be brought up with administration in order to find out what can be done.
He added, I think we need to take it upon ourselves to find out more information about what other communities are doing about this and come back to our next meeting and present (this information) so that administration can have something to work with.”
Other portions of the report showed a few areas of concern for Scott.
A three per cent jump in assaults – 17 in the last three month of 2014 to make a total of 64 – was one of those which has him slightly concerned. The other was the five per cent hike – 22 in total for 2014 – in the number of calls involving threats.
Scott feels that the rise in both these kinds of call are a concern – especially considering a serious stabbing in December and another assault earlier in the year where a man sustained serious injuries. One other incident that Scott was happy wasn’t worse involved a young male waving around a rather realistic replica handgun.
“I shudder to think what might have happened and how the outcome could have been different if not for the professionalism of the officers. I don’t believe the young person realized the gravity of the situation,” Scott explained.
Scott was pleased though to see that criminal harassment charges were down 16 per cent in 2014, to just 16 and that sexual assaults dropped by 50 per cent – there were just 10 last year.
Where Scott hopes his officers can make a dent, along with a more diligent public, is along the lines of property crimes.
Break and enters hit 44 in town last year, a rise of nearly 30 per cent, more than half from businesses.
Also, vehicle thefts rose more than 45 per cent with 32 last year, and 12 alone in the final three months.
Meanwhile, theft under $5,000 jumped to 76 in 2014 from 59 the year prior and possession of stolen property charges spiked to 13 from just three in 2013.
Scott stated that last statistics is a good one, as it demonstrates officers are out solving crimes
Mischief charge continue to concern Scott, as they rose to 123 for 2014 from 114, with 29 coming from October to December, something that is hard to explain he said.
Weapons charges went up, from 11 to 16 last year, while disturbing the peace charges feel more than 30 per cent in 2014 – 105 down to 72. Scott explained that it is nice to see that number decline as most are alcohol related
As has been the case for the past few year, the number of drug charges last year – 43 – represents no real change from year to year.
On the traffic side, Scott stated most enforcement is done by the four Integrated Traffic Unit members in Athabasca, but detachment officers will make stops and also attend collisions in town. Continuing with collisions, Scott said its been a long time since a fatal collision has taken place in town and that there were just three injury collisions in 2014. However reportable damage collisions – those with $2,000 or more worth of damage) hit 271 this past year, up from 222 in 2013.
Two other disappointing statistics from 2014 in the report – domestic violence charges remained nearly the same – 34 – as they were the previous year and the overall number of crimes committed in Athabasca stayed virtually the same.
Scott also briefly touched on two other topics – staffing and the detachments annual performance plan.
In 2014, five new members arrived, only to be balanced out by three members leaving.
As for the performance plan, which is due for completion in April, Scott wanted council over the next few weeks to think about some priorities it would like to see the RCMP work so that they can be presented to him and included in the plan he must submit.
