Athabasca RCMP members reported an uptick in assault and domestic violence in a presentation to Athabasca County council during their Nov. 14 meeting.
Cpl. Dale Bereza and acting Cpl. Tye Roddick-Ament appeared before council to present their third-quarter statistics in comparison to last year.
Bereza said there were some crimes that increased, while others “surprisingly” have decreased.
Assault cases increased from 41 last year to 63 this year, while robbery went from two down to one case.
Bereza said “a big problem right now” is theft of motor vehicles. He said that last year, there were 22 and this year there have been 28.
“We’re trying to get people knowledgeable of, don’t leave your keys in the vehicles,” he said.
Domestic violence rose over 50 per cent, from 41 cases last year to 63 this year, and Bereza said he “can have some reasons for this.”
“I’m going to say a test to the numbers, being a bit higher or a lot higher, is we are now scoring differently,” he said. “The province is really pushing hard on domestic abuse, where it’s almost zero tolerance.”
Sexual assault cases went down one case, from five last year to four this year.
“Again, a definition of sexual assault could be different to so many people,” Bereza said.
During discussions about the RCMP report, Coun. Kevin Haines said while he was on the election trail he found the number one problem for people was “all of the thefts.”
“I was really surprised at the general frustration with people, and a lot of people aren’t even phoning in their issues anymore,” he said.
Haines asked the RCMP members that if there are certain theft rings out there, “why are we not pressuring these people?”
Roddick-Ament said members are, and he has put the same people in jail multiple times.
“You need to understand, much like the (referee) in a hockey game, I put people into the penalty box. I don’t get to keep them in the penalty box,” he said. “That’s the court system.”
He added he appreciates people’s frustration, but that he would encourage people to continue to call.
Bereza said Calling Lake has seen a big difference in crime, after putting “certain people in jail.”
“We haven’t been getting any major calls there. The minor stuff like maybe the drinking and some domestic stuff, but the major stuff with the gun play and everything, nothing,” he said.
Bereza said in a later interview when he referred to “domestic stuff” as “minor,” he meant “arguing, not the physical stuff.”
“When I made the example of the domestics compared to whatever else we’ve had, the violence … the people we put away, we don’t deal with domestics with them. Those are the guys that are doing the violent stuff; they’re shooting one another; they’re beating one another up, so they’re not tied to domestics.”
He added domestics are “probably the most serious thing we deal with.”
“The only thing is one is more violent than the other, and one could potentially lead to death right away where the other one could be a prolonged problem that could lead to a further problem that could be more excessive,” he said.
