First Half 2016 Crime Stats Presented to Town Council

The Town of St. Paul heard from S/Sgt Lee Brachman, of the St. Paul RCMP Detachment at last night’s Town Council meeting. S/Sgt Brachman said there are some areas where crimes appears slightly higher than last year at this time; however it is within the five-year comparison range and not yet something to be drastically worried about. The Detachment is also taking a proactive approach to patrols, which contributes to keeping crime low.

“In times of economic hardships, people have lost their jobs and whatnot, they do turn to crime to support themselves.” S/Sgt Brachman displayed that this area of crime which includes Break & Enter and Thefts was up, quite substantially from the previous year, during this time period. In 2015, from January to July, there were 11 B&Es and 93 Theft under $5,000, whereas in 2016 there were 33 and 111 (respectively). “Overall there was a decrease, 454 files, compared to 481 last year. We are seeing a bit of a reduction, which is encouraging.”
“Overall appears person crimes remain slightly higher, but is within the 5 year comparison range,” S/Sgt Brachman explained to Council that persons crime includes crimes that are committed on another person. These include, assault, sexual assault, criminal harassment, extortion, kidnapping, and uttering threats. Noticeably, of these crimes assault was up by ten cases, and uttering threats was down by eight. “Exception in the area of sexual assault,” according to the stats provided this crime was up from one case to nine. “Not aware of any trends we need to be concerned with but we need to be aware of it.”

Drug files were down, with zero Production files and a decrease in both Possession (15) and Trafficking (8).

In 2016, the RCMP Detachment focus was on proactive enforcement, S/Sgt Brachman explains, “from being out and proactive, numerous patrols, out patrolling on ATVs.” One of the priorities set for the year, from consulting the community, was a crime reduction strategy. Through proactive patrols, on foot & bike, the RCMP Detachment is “taking that initiative, a step forward,” says S/Sgt Brachman. “We did host a meeting with local partners to discuss vagrancy, in an effort to bring about short-term and long-term solutions.”  Thanks in part to those proactive patrols, Cause Disturbance (vagrancy etc.) was down 218 compared to 262 last year. Also down was Disturbing the Peace and Liquor Act violations. “We are continuing to use as many foot patrols and bike patrols as possible. Summer time is a busy time for us.”

The St. Paul Detachment participated in Canada road safety week during May long, says S/Sgt Brachman, “over that weekend no collisions [were] reported [and there was] plenty of enforcement around St. Paul.” Members and RCMP partners, such as the fire department, participated in a mock collision exercise in June; which was attended by 200 grade 9 students from all over the region. Proactive approaches, coupled with Town initiative, such as photo radar and people’s behaviour have all contributed to the reduction in files for traffic offenses. “Any reduction in collisions are a positive thing, people are driving safer. Whether that’s people’s behaviour or photo radar, they are driving safer.”

The St Paul RCMP Detachment encourages citizens to report suspicious activity or concerns they may have in the community. “There are times when people think it may be minor, why call- I don’t want to bother. But that’s what we’re here for, we’re the RCMP it’s no bother,” says S/Sgt Brachman. If you see something suspicious call 911 and if you have information regarding a crime in the community contact the Detachment at 780-645-8800. You may remain anonymous by calling Crimestoppers 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).