Crime rates are up in the Town of Athabasca, but they’re down in the Village of Boyle.
That’s what Sgt. Kevin McGillivray from Boyle RCMP and Sgt. Brian Scott from Athabasca RCMP told Athabasca County council in their quarterly appearance at last Tuesday’s meeting.
Criminal complaints in the Boyle area, according to McGillivray, are down to 595 this year from 783 last year.
He said 105 break-and-enters were reported in Boyle in 2011, and that number has been greatly reduced to 31 so far this year.
McGillivray said in a written statement that “human resources are stable at this time” at the Boyle detachment. Even though the detachment is short a corporal at this time, the position should be filled “in the near future,” according to the sergeant.
Highway 63 offences have increased due to speeding. On that highway, McGillivray said the RCMP received approximately 569 complaints of speeding last year to approximately 1,200 so far this year.
Sgt. Scott told council that Athabasca is also short staffed, but allocating his officers to the appropriate areas of coverage is a priority.
Scott said on the upside, the Athabasca detachment will be receiving a new cadet on Dec. 22.
Citing other difficulties with the workflow, Scott said the division average is to have one clerk for every four members of the RCMP, but they currently have two clerks and 11 members.
In every category, Scott said crime in Athabasca was up, including assaults (48 this year up from 35 a year ago), criminal harassment, uttering threats, break-and-enters, and various thefts.
Two trucks were stolen from the Husky station in as many weeks due to people leaving their vehicles running while they go into the station to grab a coffee. Scott described such behavior as “just plain stupidity.”
“It’s so frustrating,” said Scott. “Most of these trucks are service trucks, loaded with tools.”
Before discussing the latest crime stats in the region, McGillivray briefly highlighted a big victory for the RCMP in the area, in which Boyle RCMP recently discovered 2,788 marijuana plants after executing a search warrant on a rural property in the County of Thorhild.
“This is a significant size marijuana grow,” said the detachment commander.
Two individuals were charged, released and will appear in Boyle Provincial Court on Jan. 22, 2013.
