ATHABASCA – Rural policing may lack the glitz and glamour of its urban counterparts, but there’s something to be said for variety.
Officers from the Athabasca, Boyle, and integrated traffic detachments presented Athabasca County councillors with their updated crime stats for April, May, and June during their Sept. 10 council meeting, which included reports of stolen coffee cups, runaway buffalo, and impaired farmers.
Athabasca Cpl. Dan Fenton, alongside Boyle Sgt. Dennis Properzi and traffic Sgt. Lee Simpkins, outlined their priorities for the area. One thing they all had in common was a focus on prolific offenders.
“Our number one priority is break and enters, and number two is habitual offender management,” said Fenton, who added his detachment has been working closely with Crown prosecutors to ensure the people they arrest stay behind bars. “The good news is that our offender management initiatives are catching those that are responsible — of the three most prolific offenders (in our area), two are now in jail.”
Each officer brought their quarterly stats, which largely showed more of the same — property crimes trended down a small percentage, while other crimes were slightly more common.
One theme Fenton noted was the continued theft of wire from oil and gas sites, despite companies switching from copper to aluminum.
“Our criminals are still stealing the wire, thinking it’s copper,” said Fenton, who added companies are hanging spools of the aluminum wire beside the troughs to show what’s inside it as a pre-emptive measure.
“We’re working with individuals that are promoting our job security.”
Over in Boyle, Properzi said his detachment has been keeping a broad focus, with special attention being paid to traffic safety, particularly around school zones, and being out in the community as much as possible.
“We had about 700 calls for service, which sounds like a lot, but when you break it down not all of those require police attendance,” he said.
Properzi said one of the biggest things councillors and the public could do to help the RCMP was to report things as they see them
“Reporting is something I can’t stress enough; I know we get the comments that they don’t want to bother the police, or we have better things to do … but it's difficult for us to mind-read where the problems are.”
Hard numbers
Motor vehicle collisions (MVC) were also down in both jurisdictions — Athabasca reported 59 MVCs in 2024, down from 73 in 2023 — which was credited to a combination of enforcement and increased visibility.
Athabasca also reported a 2.6 per cent decrease in overall criminal code offences compared to 2023, despite persons crime rising by 7.8 per cent over the same time frame.
“The increase in persons crime and other criminal code offences requires targeted interventions,” wrote Staff Sgt. Mark Hall, who leads the Athabasca detachment but was unable to attend the county meeting.
“Moving forward, our focus will be on addressing the rise in break and enters and refining our habitual offender management strategies to enhance compliance rates.”
The detachment initially planned on managing all its habitual offenders before switching to a model that tracked compliance. At the time of his report, Hall said 77 per cent of offenders were complying with their release conditions, and plans to provide support, further monitoring, and interagency collaboration were in place.
Boyle saw an even larger decrease in the crime rate, with reported offences falling by 38 per cent — the detachment recorded just 101 offences compared to 163 in the same time frame last year. MVCs remained constant however, with only one less, and two fatal incidents: one involving an ATV, and another involving a tractor and a smaller sedan on Hwy. 63.
“It’s nice to hear that the mowing programs are actually working to slow down some of those wildlife strikes. That’s awesome,” said Coun. Tracy Holland. “It’s very sad to hear you’re now having to stop farming equipment for impaired drivers.
“We have a message out there for everyone to be aware that harvest is happening and to watch for the equipment, but I don’t think they’re expecting them to be driving down the highway impaired.”
