BARRHEAD - The Barrhead RCMP had good and bad news for county councillors.
The bad news is that persons crime or offences committed against individuals is on the rise, at least if 'K' Division statistics from July to September are any indication. However, the good news is property crime over the same period is at a five-year low.
Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds and Cpl. Filipe Vicente shared the news to County of Barrhead councillors during their Nov. 21 meeting.
On the persons crime side, Vicente said the total number of offences had risen 10 per cent from the same period in 2022 and 28 per cent from 2019.
In 2023, the detachment received 55 person crime complaints, a five-year high, compared to 50 last year and 43 in 2019.
The increase, Vicente said, was due to the rise in sexual offences and online harassment.
"People send explicit images, and the other party wants money, that sort of thing," he said.
The total number of sexual offences reported for the quarter was 11, six sexual assaults and five other sexual-related crimes. Last year, over the quarter, RCMP received one sexual assault complaint and no other sexual-related complaints.
Police also received six criminal harassment and six extortion complaints.
Vicente said if there was any good news from those statistics, it was that police did not feel it indicated any increased danger to the public.
"A lot of this is happening behind closed doors, and the parties, for the most part, are known to each other," he said.
Other persons crime stats for the quarter include 22 assaults, which is down from 29 in 2022 and nine uttering threats, which is a decrease from the 15 reported last year.
On the property crime side, Barrhead RCMP members responded to 159 complaints, down from 163 in 2022 and a high of 248 in 2019.
Leading the way in the property crime categories was theft under $5,000 at 48, up 26 per cent from 2022 but down 48 per cent from 2019's high of 80.
The next highest categories were break and enter, motor vehicle theft, mischief (damage to property), fraud, and possession of stolen goods at 42, 22, 16 and 14, respectively. At the bottom of the list were possession of stolen goods at 9, arson and mischief (other) at three a piece and theft over $5,000 at two.
"Many of our lower [property crime] numbers can be attributed to a number of our habitual offenders being in custody," Vicente said. "And we've tried to keep the pressure on once they are out, and this is the result."
The other statistic Vicente pointed to is drug enforcement, which is also substantially down from previous years.
Once again, he attributed it to the work the detachment has done over the last year, which has resulted in some of the more prominent players in the drug trade in the area being incarcerated.
The one statistic that has increased, he said, is provincial traffic offences, which is up 16 per cent from 2022 at 569.
"It is the result of some of the other calls being down, allows members to be on the road and conduct and be more proactive enforcement," Vicente said.
Coun. Walter Preugschas noticed that the number of mental health files for the quarter had increased considerably, sitting at 37 compared to 25 last year and 18 in 2019.
Vicente said many of those files were the RCMP members acting as a taxi for Alberta Health Services.
He used the example of a family member applying for a mental health warrant for a family member.
"We are the ones that end up taking them to the city to the hospital," he said, adding that the officer is often taken off the road for the rest of their shift.
Coun. Bill Lane said he receives many complaints from Thunder Lake residents about the number of speeders on Highway 18.
"I know I am passed constantly, and a lot of people go through the stop sign at the Tiger Lily intersection [Highway 763 and Highway 18] ... There have been a lot of near misses," he said.
Dodds replied that they were not getting those complaints.
He added that traffic enforcement, especially at stop signs, is focused on intersections that have had several serious collisions, such as two (Neerlandia turnoff) and four-mile corners to the north on Highway 33.
Dodds added that, like calls for suspicious activities, he encourages residents to report what they see to police.
"If there is a speed issue on Highway 18, we can pass it along to Westlock traffic and have them step it up out there, and when our guys have some extra time, do some enforcement in the area," he said.
Body-worn cameras
Unfortunately, he said, the RCMP's body-worn camera pilot project earlier this year in Grande Prairie, Parkland and the St. Paul detachments was unsuccessful.
Dodds added he and his members were looking forward to the cameras becoming standard equipment.
The problem was that the video feed quality was substandard, well below that of a standard cell phone.
"You need that quality to take any questions out, especially when things go wrong," he said, adding from his understanding the members involved in the pilot project loved the concept. "We deal with so many complaints and allegations against us, and having a camera and video footage resolves the issue immediately."
The RCMP are now looking for another supplier.
Staffing and new detachment
Dodds said the timeline for a new detachment is still on track, with the project going out to tender in April and shovels in the ground the following spring or summer.
He said the design of the building is complete, and the architect and engineers are working on the mechanical features, including solar panels.
Dodds also noted during his report on detachment staffing levels, which is close to being fully staffed, that he would be retiring in February with Vicente serving as interim detachment commander.
He added the vacancy would filled first by a lateral transfer, meaning a sergeant moving from another. detachment, and if no one is interested, it would then, through promotion, saying he already knows of two interested candidates who would do an excellent job.
