ATHABASCA – Summer is here, and while that means ice cream cones and beach days for students, it also means an uptick in calls for service for the local RCMP.
Athabasca County’s three RCMP detachment leaders — Athabasca RCMP Staff Sgt. Mark Hall, Boyle RCMP Sgt. Dennis Properzi, and Wood Buffalo – Athabasca Traffic Sgt. Lee Simpkins — gave the county councillors an up-to-date look at the quarterly crime statistics from January to April, as well as the priority areas for the summer months during the June 17 committee of the whole meeting.
Properzi was the first to give his update, with the Q4 stats for January to April showing a rise in persons crime and traffic offences compared to the previous year. Boyle saw a jump in assaults, rising from six cases to 17, theft under $5,000, increasing from nine cases to 21, and frauds, which jumped from three cases to 11 compared to last year.
“Moving into the new (fiscal) year, we’re going to keep the priorities the same; a traffic focus, as well as police visibility,” said Properzi.
“Some of the town halls, we’ll be looking at the late summer to the early fall just to give people a chance to appear. We’ve been fortunate to be well received in the Athabasca and Boyle areas.”
The Boyle detachment’s focus on traffic enforcement has also paid off. Officers handed out an additional 80 tickets in the final quarter of the fiscal year compared to 2024, with 213 provincial traffic files on the books compared to 133 the year before.
“There were good results overall for this quarter despite chronic cold weather and staffing shortages for Boyle. The number of Joint Force Operations (JFO) were down due to the same, but results exceeded the goal for the fiscal year,” said Properzi in his report.
“There were very good relations with partner agencies and RCMP Traffic services.”
Athabasca saw the opposite trend in its enforcement numbers. Hall’s officers have been putting a heavy focus on cracking down on repeat offenders and the crime rates have reflected that. Athabasca’s persons crime rates dropped 18 per cent year-to-year, and property crime was down 37 per cent.
Properzi also answered questions about the RCMP’s role in the Highway 831 fire in early May, and passed along his thanks to the community for all their support.
“The way I know we’re doing a good job is because my detachment always has food. People are bringing in carrot cakes, you name it. I grew up that way too, if people appreciate you they drop by with treats,” said Properzi.
Staffing is always a concern for all three sergeants — Simpkins's traffic unit tends to be the most understaffed, but Athabasca and Boyle also deal with intermittent vacancies due to rotations, training, and injuries.
Hall said he spoke with recruitment officers as recently as March, and was told the RCMP had brought in 110 per cent more recruits then the previous year.
“We’re recruiting like crazy and getting people into the recruiting funnel, but they have to go through the security processes and get the training before they get to us,” said Hall.
Athabasca has had a vacancy for a year, and Boyle is currently also sitting on a single empty role.
“I know training is one thing, but with a rural community people have to learn the roads. They aren’t driving down 105 (Street) and Jasper Ave, they’re out in a back forty trying to orientate new people,” said Coun. Rob Minns.
“We go through it too, once you hire new people it gets tough.”
