ATHABASCA — Property crime and repeat offender management remain top priorities for law enforcement in the Athabasca area, according to Staff Sgt. Mark Hall and Cpl. Dan Fenton.
The pair presented Athabasca Town councillors with an update from the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year during council's Aug. 13 meeting.
Q1, running from April to June, saw 51 occurrences of break and enters (B&E) in the detachment area. The stats indicated a trajectory that, if continued, would see more than 210 B&E incidents for the entire fiscal year.
“Within that first quarter, we had approximately 10 break and enters to businesses within the town. Since (the end of June), we’ve had one,” Fenton told councillors. “I don’t think we’re ever going to be able to say we’re at net zero, but we’ve taken it back to an acceptable level.”
Fenton and Hall said their initiatives instituted in the first quarter of 2024 have helped to significantly reduce B&E occurrences in town after a stretch of property crime in late May and early June had locals calling for change.
Related: Business owners say property crime on the rise despite RCMP numbers
Hall and Fenton weren’t able to share all the tactics recently deployed to combat property crime, as public knowledge of police measures could reduce their effectiveness. But Hall said increased officer visibility and education on principles like Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) have made an impact on the number of occurrences, and are helping to change relationships between police and the public.
Fenton said an increased number of town halls and the new Coffee with a Cop program rolled out July 18 give locals a chance to voice their concerns and opinions and humanize policing efforts.
A number of business owners in town expressed apathy for reporting break and enters and thefts to the police during the first quarter, an attitude Fenton and the RCMP hope their efforts are changing.
“Our partners need to realize they’re our biggest asset,” said Fenton. “They’re our eyes when we’re not there, they see things, and it’s imperative when they see those things, they call us, and hopefully we’ve extended enough of an olive branch to bring that back.”
Habitual offender management
The second priority for the police is ensuring repeat criminals are held accountable for their actions, obey court orders, and stay out of trouble.
“Dealing with our habitual offenders is what’s impacting every facet of crime in this area,” said Hall. “It does impact the drug side of things, and property crime especially.”
The initial goal of managing 100 per cent of repeat offenders within Q1 proved to be an ambitious one for officers. Members have shifted to tracking compliance rates of habitual offenders, efforts which have led to a 77 per cent compliance rate.
Hall said officers are also looking at adding an interview process to the management program to better understand the factors driving recidivism and increase inter-agency effectiveness. “Is it drugs, is it unemployment, is it boredom?” asked Hall.
“We’re working with other partners in town to basically have a triage team,” he added, noting specialists in areas such as addiction will be utilized to help connect individuals with relevant resources.
“It’s not going to catch everybody, but it’s an option here now that we can really move forward with them instead of just beating our heads against the wall over and over again,” said Hall.
Fenton also emphasized the importance in collaborating with the justice system to manage repeat offenders. He touched on the community-wide exasperation with the ‘catch and release’ system and said residents and business owners aren’t the only ones vexed.
“This is frustrating everybody, it’s not just frustrating us, it’s frustrating the individuals, it’s frustrating the victims, it’s a problem,” he said. “We are now in consultation with our Crown prosecutor in order to bring the best possible outcome to something that is of great concern to everybody.”
“I think we’re on the right track,” said Balay. “There’s still lots to be done, but I think the will is there on your part, relationships are being built, and our community is the better for it.”
Notable statistics
In 2023, 31 break and enters were recorded for Q1, compared to the 51 in 2024. Despite the increase in B&E’s, property crime overall has dipped almost nine per cent from last year.
2024 saw 16 motor vehicle thefts from April to June, down from the 25 in 2023. This year saw three more instances of theft over $5,000, but occurrences of theft under $5,000 dropped, as did charges of possession of stolen goods, fraud, arson, and damage to property.
Reports of suspicious vehicles were up to 117 this year from the 93 filed last year. Fenton said in an Aug. 16 follow-up the increase is thanks to more residents picking up the phone.
“The public is calling us more. They’re reaching out more. Hence why you see a shift in the thefts of vehicles, it’s for the same reason,” said Fenton. “The public’s acknowledging that they are an asset and that they are willing to assist us.”
Ryan Burchby, owner of Athabasca Kal-Tire, was one of the business owners repeatedly targeted in the string of break and enters in early summer and said the business had been hit once a week in the month of June.
He said although his store alarm hasn’t been tripped in recent weeks, the cause for the slow-down in break and enters is hard to nail down.
“We always see this stuff coming in waves, where nothing will go on for months at a time, and then over the course of a short period of time, you’ll get broken into three or four times,” said Burchby in an Aug. 16 interview.
“I can’t honestly put my finger on it one way or another,” he added.
