PANDEMIC PRODUCES MIXED EFFECT ON CITY’S CRIME STATS

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on some - but not all - types of crime committed in the city, according to statistics released by the Prince George RCMP.

In a year-over-year comparison of March 2019 and March 2020, and of April 1-22 to the same period last year, files involving shoplifting took a tumble.

Calls for those incidents stood at 35 for March 2020, down 35.2 per cent from 54 for the same month last year, while the count for the April period was just nine, down 73.5 per cent from 34 in 2019.

That came as no surprise to RCMP. “This is to be expected considering the store closures or strictly controlled access of many businesses in the community,” RCMP said in the release.

Property crime overall remained within the range of previously-reported data. There were 798 reports in March, up 17.2 per cent from last year, and 585 for April 1-22, down 7.6 per cent. Break and enters for both periods stood at 14, up by just one for March and down just two for the April period. At 227 reports, offences involving violence were up 6.6 per cent in March but, dropped 24.3 per cent during April 1-22, and stood at 130 compared to 195 during the same three weeks in 2019.

Domestic assaults were a wash as they rose by three cases to 34 in March but declined by three cases to 30 during April 1-22. RCMP have been busier fielding calls about suspicious circumstances and unwanted persons. Combined, they added up to 795, a jump of 225 calls or 34.5 per cent over the entire period presented in the report.

As for physical distancing scofflaws, RCMP said the detachment received between one and five calls a day during March 25-April 22. And instead of calling the detachment, RCMP are asking those who see someone failing to abide by a public health order to call city hall at 311, if the act was committed within city limits, or 1-888-COVID-19 (1-888-268-4319), it if occurred outside them.