ATHABASCA – As the fiscal year comes to a close, the Athabasca and Boyle RCMP detachments are looking to local councils for feedback on what their focus should be after April 1.
Staff Sgt. Mark Hall of the Athabasca RCMP and Boyle’s Sgt. Dennis Properzi were joined by their traffic counterpart, Sgt. Lee Simpkins, for a presentation to Athabasca County councillors March 11, where they shared successes, ongoing areas of focus, and some stats from October to December 2024.
Athabasca’s detachment has been focused on reducing break and enters, as well as cutting down on repeat offences from parolees.
Hall said the area on was pace to hit its goal for break and enters and he attributed much of the success to offender management.
“During that quarter we had 27 break and enters, bringing the year to date total to 113. We’re on track to exceed that number for the quarter,” said Hall.
Of those 27 break and enters, seven took place in Athabasca County, a 50 per cent reduction from 2023.
“There’s significant work being done in that area, and a lot of it has been attested to dealing with habitual offenders,” said Hall.
Out of the 23 reported interactions with the men and women classified as habitual offenders, only three were in Athabasca County.
Tips always wanted
Properzi shared Boyle’s stats with councillors, which showed a 35 per cent drop in persons crime — assault, criminal harassment, uttering threats, etc. — but a three per cent rise in property crimes.
Fraud has been an ongoing issue for local RCMP detachments, with many fraudsters targeting seniors through a variety of methods.
“Online frauds were the bulk of our fraud reporting, but we only got six reports so we know there’s a lot more out there,” said Properzi.
“We’re hoping with the education campaigns in the media, people are either switched onto it or giving us a call before they become a victim.”
Mental health calls have also been a consistent issue the Boyle detachment deals with. Properzi and his members responded to 20 calls over the three month span, which typically involve further help from family members or a trip to a hospital.
Mischief calls accounted for the rise in property crimes over the quarter. Despite break and enters falling from 34 in 2023 to 24 in 2024, both mischief property damage and general mischief files rose by 29 per cent.
“We’re still seeing a good chunk of the (suspicious) files being reported, which is nice, it gets my guys out there. We might be able to be out in rural area where you report something suspicious on your road,” said Properzi.
“It gets us into those areas to fly the flag a little.”
Slow down
Simpkins and his two-man team spent their third quarter patrolling the areas highways, and working joint-force operations with Athabasca’s other law enforcement agencies.
In the three month span, the team caught six impaired drivers and issued five alcohol or cannabis seizures for substances within reach.
Speeding continues to be an ongoing area of focus, with 88 tickets issued in the winter months.
Special attention has been paid to the Boyle School zone, with the fastest driver being caught going 89 km-h in a 30 zone.
March’s initiative is seatbelt safety, so the RCMP are focusing on making sure people are buckled up when their on the roadways. While it might seem like something people take for granted — seatbelts have been mandatory since 1987 — Simpkins said it’s not always a sure thing. Next month will be speed enforcement month as the roads dry out and drivers speed up.
“Overall, the public is behaving,” said Simpkins, who said seatbelt violations, speeding tickets, and distracted driving were all down.
