WESTLOCK – Town of Westlock crime numbers across the board have either dropped or remained steady for a second-straight year, falling by 16 per cent in total when compared to 2020.
In fact, the 2021 figure of 727 files pales in comparison to 2019 when there were 1,218 cases dealt with by local RCMP, a huge spike bookended by the 697 recorded in 2018 and 868 in 2020.
Town of Westlock councillors received the year-end stats, as well as the December 2021 numbers, at their Jan. 24 meeting from Westlock RCMP Staff Sgt. Al Baird who said they’re now working on the annual performance plan for the coming year. Currently the detachment has 12 regular members consisting of Baird, two corporals and nine constables — one new constable is slated to arrive from Depot in early February, while they’re still in need of one corporal.
While the numbers are encouraging, Baird did note an eight-file spike in property crimes in December compared to 2020 as something they will keep an eye on.
“There was the slight increase in December … we knew there was a bit more crime happening, but certainly over the year in town we were down,” said Baird in a follow-up interview. “It can be anything from COVID to just better reporting and accuracy of the stats. That said we don’t want to let our guard down. We’ll continue to watch and see the next couple of months and see if there’s an increase.”
While person crimes like robbery, assault and uttering threats have remained constant over the past three years with 176 reported in 2021, 175 in 2020 and 171 in 2019, property crimes have fallen dramatically.
Last year the RCMP dealt with 438 property crimes like break and enters, frauds and thefts over and under $5,000, 15 per cent below the 518 in 2020 and roughly 40 per cent less than the 733 they handled in 2019. Other Criminal Code cases, like offensive weapons, disturbing the peace and failing to comply/breaches, dropped to a four-year low of 113 this past year — in 2020 there were 179 cases, 313 in 2019 and 161 in 2018.
Drug cases are trending status quo with 25 in 2021 compared to 27 the year previous, while the same can be said for other provincial statutes, like the Liquor Act and Mental Health Act as there were 327 files in 2021 compared to 332 in 2020.
Total motor vehicle collisions jumped to 126 in 2021 compared to 97 the year prior, while total provincial traffic, other traffic and Criminal Code traffic has been basically the same for the past two years with 221 files in 2021 and 218 in 2020.
And while false or abandoned 911 calls are up by 38 per cent (251 versus 182), suspicious person/vehicle/property calls are down 44 per cent (191 versus 343). Meanwhile false alarms, missing persons reports, spousal abuse calls and search warrants are all within single digits over the past two years.
Baird again encourages residents to keep the lines of communication open with the RCMP as they can’t solve crimes that aren’t reported.
“We want people to continue reporting the things that are happening — if people don’t call us we can’t compile accurate stats,” he continued. “With our crime mapping we can see if there are hotspots which is very useful for us.”
