BARRHEAD - Barrhead RCMP Detachment commander Sgt. Bob Dodds had booth good and bad news for County of Barrhead councillors at their Aug. 15 meeting while delivering his quarterly report covering April to the end of June.
The good news is that significant progress has been made towards a new detachment building.
He said he expects them to break ground next spring, with a completion date sometime in 2025.
The bad news is that crime is significantly rising in some categories.
"Our persons crimes are going up a little bit, and our property crime is skyrocketing," he said.
Persons crimes have increased nine per cent compared to last year, while property crime has increased 39 per cent.
Leading the way are assaults at 26, followed by uttering threats, criminal harassment and sexual offences at 11, seven and four, respectively. Extortion (three complaints) and robbery (one) round out the bottom.
On the property crime side, Dodds said the increase was due to the number of theft under $5,000 complaints, with 71 reported in the three months. In 2022, there were 24, during the same period.
Other leading categories include mischief or damage to property, break and enter, motor vehicle theft and fraud at 26, 23, and 16. The bottom categories were theft over $5,000, mischief (other), arson and possession of stolen goods rounding off the bottom at 6, 2 and 2.
He noted the trend is consistent with what other detachments and police forces are seeing across the province and country.
"It is a little bit frustrating that we've had several successes in the last year," Dodds said. "Our three most prominent and notable drug dealers are in jail and have been there for months, and although new ones have popped up to take their place, we know who they are, and we are actively working to get them off the streets."
However, he added because much of members' time is being taken up by responding to complaints, it takes time away from the proactive work needed for a drug investigation.
But Dodds said, despite their time constraints, the detachment has successfully solved several break-and-enters.
Unfortunately, most, if not all, individuals responsible for the crimes are back on the streets.
"We had one kid get out of jail Aug. 1 for a series of thefts and break-and-enters, and we know he is active already," Dodds said.
Unfortunately, he said, it would likely continue to be the case with offenders continually being "caught and released."'
Dodds noted that while there is a push by federal politicians to change the bail system to make it more difficult to be released, he said that the discussion has revolved around violent offenders and offences.
Regrettably, even if those changes go forward, he said, they would not make much of a difference locally, noting that most crimes police deal with are repeat property offenders.
"So I don't feel we are moving in a direction that will see some of these people held in custody for any length of time," Dodds said.
He also noted that real change would only come after society learned to deal with the root cause of crime: drug addiction and mental health issues.
Dodds also noted the trend of higher property crimes seems to be continuing into the current quarter, noting that since the beginning of August, there have been 10 stolen vehicles, including three from Stephani Motors on Aug. 10.
Police recovered two, while the third is still missing.
"I spent all day yesterday trying to track its GPS, so it is still around," he said.
Dodds noted the increase in crime statistics has also impacted the community's crime severity index (CSI) for 2022.
The CSI is a statistic compiled by Statistics Canada that measures the overall seriousness of crime from one year to the next by tracking the prevalence of crime within a community and the seriousness of the crimes committed.
In 2021, Barrhead went from 88.3 to 92.5. Dodds said the increase is slightly higher than the province but still well below the average, adding the Alberta CSI average is 103.2.
"Of the RCMP jurisdictions in Alberta, we came in 85th," he said, adding that Mayerthorpe, Swan Hills, Whitecourt, Westlock, and Morinville all were higher.
"Generally speaking, if you step outside the County of Barrhead, it gets higher. So we are doing well."
Dodds noted the primary driver in the increase for Barrhead was break-and-enters by contrast, in other communities, increases in more severe crimes such as robbery or even homicides are the determining factors.
"The bottom line is that we are still a safe community and doing very well," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
