Cold Lake sees an overall drop in crime; while the MD experiences a spike.

In the City of Cold Lake, “we’ve seen some fairly significant reductions,” says S/Sgt. of the Cold Lake RCMP Detachment, Jeremie Landry, while comparing the RCMP files from 2016 to 2017. “For example in person crimes, year to date, we’ve seen a reduction of 17.5 percent, over the same time period as last year.” Persons crimes refers to crimes against another person; such as assault.

That’s not the only area of reduction, notes Landry, “there’s been a seven percent reduction in property crime.” Property crime includes thefts and break & enters. “An overall criminal code reduction of 3.4 percent.”

For the rural contract with the Municipal District (MD) of Bonnyville, the Cold Lake Detachment has seen a reduction of 36.8 percent in persons crimes. S/Sgt Landry says that although the MD has seen a reduction in persons crime, they have experienced a spike in property crime, 31.6 percent. Other criminal code offenses are down 36 percent. “Our overall criminal code is up 3.5 percent in rural areas,” confirms the S/Sgt.