BOYLE — Village of Boyle councillors had a chance to review second quarter policing statistics from the Boyle RCMP detachment, which show a significant decrease in criminal code traffic offences, and an uptick of suspicious persons and vehicles reports, among other notable trends.
During the Nov. 15 meeting, councillors voted unanimously to accept the RCMP report from July 1 to Sept. 30 as information and expressed their gratitude for the type of enforcement work taking place in and around the village.
“As a community, I think we can be really proud of all of this,” said Mayor Colin Derko. “There’s that police presence around all the time, but it’s a friendly police presence."
Boyle RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Dennis Properzi’s report highlighted efforts around the four community priorities of awareness and education, effective communication, crime reduction, and youth crime.
Properzi notes the increased police presence in school zones during the first weeks of the 2023-2024 school year was met with positive feedback from the community, and strong officer presence on the roads around lake areas resulted in reduced complaints from the public.
Coun. Barb Smith echoed the sentiments included in Properzi’s report. “I see so much more presence, it’s actually so nice,” she said.
“It’s nice to see that crime is virtually trending down in almost everything,” said Coun. Shelby Kiteley. Notable downward trends included in the report are a significant drop in criminal code traffic offences, which dropped from 13 in Q2 of 2022 to two in 2023.
Mischief and damage to property charges are also down this year, with 14 counts compared to last year’s 29 counts. Failure to comply charges also showed a major drop, with 17 counts in 2022, and only three counts in 2023.
Sexual assaults and kidnapping/hostage/abduction numbers reflect a decrease as well, with three counts for each in 2022, down to zero for this year.
Reports of suspicious persons, vehicles, and property were up, but Properzi notes the upward trend is an indicator of increased reporting by the public. “This allows the police to attend and assess concerns from the public to determine/detect any criminal activity,” wrote Properzi.
Trends for break and enters, theft under $5,000, and theft of motor vehicles all saw an increase this year. Break and enters went from 17 counts last year to 24 in 2023, and theft under $5,000 jumped from 10 charges in 2022 to 17 charges in 2023.
Theft of motor vehicles saw a slight jump, with 13 charges this year compared to 11 in 2022. Despite more charges in 2023, the number of motor vehicle thefts has declined over the last five years. Sixteen vehicles were stolen in 2019, and a high of 21 were stolen in 2020.
“I can’t thank our RCMP and law enforcement in town enough,” said Derko. “They’re doing a great job.”
