Police set priorities

Port Hawkesbury RCMP want to tackle prescription drug trafficking

PORT HAWKESBURY — While he doesn’t see a major crime problem in Port Hawkesbury, a senior member of the local RCMP detachment says he would like to tackle the trafficking of prescription pills within the town.

Last week, Staff Sgt. David Morin presented to Port Hawkesbury town council statistics for calls for service in the last fiscal year.

There were five calls related to drug trafficking in the last fiscal year among Port Hawkesbury general duty members, which was down from 12 a year earlier. Other drug-related calls were also down. Those figures don’t reflect work done by the street crime enforcement unit.

“They’ve dealt with some bigger targets in town and in the area this year,” Morin said. “Our street crime folks are saying their biggest concern in town with drugs is prescription pill trafficking, they say it’s really come on strong the past few years

"That’s one thing we want to see if we can deal with this year, see if we can make some in-roads as far as prosecuting trafficking of prescription pills.”

When it came to motorvehicle collisions, there were no fatalities, the same as the previous year, and there were seven with non-fatal injuries, which was also on par with the previous year.

There were 13 collisions on Reeves Street from Oct. 1 to March 31, up from 11 from the same period a year earlier. Last year saw major changes occur to traffic flow on Reeves Street as it was reduced from four lanes to three, with turning lanes.

Morin said there was not an appreciable difference and he thinks it will help now that the lines have been repainted and there is a sign at Pitt Street indicating which lane to be in if you want to turn or go straight.

In the future, he added, he hopes they will see better compliance in that area and fewer accidents reported.

Mayor Brenda ChisholmBeaton asked whether there was any increase in the severity of the collisions reported on Reeves Street. Morin described them as comparable, with no serious injuries.

There were 30 impaired driving complaints compared to 41 a year earlier, 11 involving drug impairment. There were 10 charges laid related to alcohol impairment.

There were 22 break and enters reported, compared to 20 a year earlier. There were 59 thefts, up from 48 a year earlier.

Council was invited to discuss among themselves what they see as priorities for policing and submit them to the detachment.