Community policing report shows some positive trends
The numbers from the latest community policing report for Swift Current show fewer offences in several areas, but violations in other categories were on a similar level.
Staff Sgt. Evan Gordon, the commanding officer of the Swift Current municipal RCMP detachment, presented the quarterly community policing report at a regular City council meeting, Jan. 8.
His report provided information about the period October to December 2023, which is the third quarter of the RCMP fiscal year. He referred to three offence categories with a reduced number of violations.
“Thefts under $5,000 have been elevated as of late or prior to this quarter,” he said. “I’m happy to be able to report that this quarter saw a 47 per cent decrease in that crime statistic area.”
There were 42 offences in this category for the period October to December 2023 compared to 78 for the same three-month period in 2022 and 60 in 2021.
The reduced number of offences is a result of police efforts against prolific offenders who were largely responsible for these thefts.
“Quite often, especially in a city this size with statistics this concentrated, you can really see a big increase because of one, two, or three very specific incidences,” he explained. “So in this particular case several prolific offenders were caught at the end of the second quarter.”
He added that some of these prolific offenders also moved out of the city after being caught shoplifting and charged numerous times.
“When I say prolific offender, it’s not necessarily someone that hasn’t been caught, but someone that has been caught multiple times and continues to perpetrate those crimes,” he said. “Things like catching and actually being able to get someone into custody, as well as in some cases people just kind of running their course and moving out of town can have a big impact on some of those statistics.”
There was also a significant reduction in the number of break and enters into businesses. There were four offences for the period October to December 2023 compared to 14 during the same period in 2022. Break and enters into businesses were down 64 per cent compared to the first quarter of the reporting year and 79 per cent lower in comparison to the second quarter.
“Again, that was something that we saw last quarter, some very targeted instances with one or two specific people involved,” he said. “Once those people are caught, these numbers drop off drastically.”
Mischief is another offence category with a downward trend compared to previous quarters and he reported a 23 per cent decrease. There were 96 offences from October to December 2023 compared to 124 for the previous quarter of July to September.
Offences in this category are also largely due to the actions of certain individuals and the reduction is partly due to a few of them leaving the community. Another reason is that other individuals who were repeatedly involved with mischief calls have received help from relevant agencies that provide mental health and other support.
“I’ve spoken before about crimes being a bit of a societal problem in general, not just attributable to one particular reason or one particular agency’s responsibility,” he said. “We are seeing that benefit by some good work from other agencies, Mental Health and Social Services and so on. I think mischief is a particular area we can point to very specifically and say that that there’s some good work being done out there and it is making a difference in people’s lives and to the community in general.”
Gordon referred to several categories with an upward or similar level of offences compared to previous periods.
The number of fraud incidents increased, specifically financial frauds against seniors. It was lower in the third quarter than the previous two, but still up compared to previous years.
There were 41 fraud offences from October to December 2023 compared to 30 for the same period in 2022 and 23 in 2021. For the reporting year to date since April 2023 there were 164 fraud offences compared to 132 in 2022 and 114 in 2021.
“I just like to remind people if something seems too good to be true, a phone call out of the blue or an email or a letter, it probably is,” he said.
He referred to a concerned call received by the Swift Current RCMP detachment about a senior who was planning to make a cash withdrawal from the bank in response to a fraudulent telephone call.
“We work with family members, the financial institutions and those sorts of things to try and prevent this from getting further once people have taken that bait,” he said. “But even before that, we’re trying to educate the public a bit more, provide presentations on frauds and what to look for. … Ultimately you can’t always tell someone what to do with their own money, but you can certainly give them a little bit of information and try to help them to make the best possible decision.”
Impaired driving offences are still increasing, despite ongoing policing efforts. There were 11 impaired driving charges during the third quarter, of which nine were alcohol related and two were drug related.
The statistics from his report indicate 32 impaired driving offences for the period October to December 2023 compared to 21 for the same period in 2022 and 10 in 2021. For the reporting year to date since April 2023 there were112 impaired driving offences compared to 88 in 2022 and 58 in 2021.
Gordon expressed concern about the increase in impaired driving offences for two age groups. The 16-to20-year age group represented about five per cent of total impaired offences in 2019, but the past year they made up over 20 per cent of such offences. The 20-to30-year age group accounted for almost 30 per cent of impaired driving offences during the past year.
“It seems like we really have a problem with our youth making those decisions and I can’t really say it’s a lack of education, because if there’s one thing that has been increased and pounded into us over the last 10, 15, 20 years is that this is dangerous,” he noted. “It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s life altering. So I don’t know if that comes down to us as a community to make sure that everyone knows that it’s not acceptable.”
There were four reported drug overdoses in the city during the reporting period, but none were fatal. Two of these overdoses were linked to fentanyl, which is an indication that this opioid drug is still present in the community.
Several individuals were charged with drug possession for the purpose of trafficking after the Swift Current RCMP executed a warrant and the Saskatchewan Trafficking Response Team (STRT) carried out another warrant in the city.
The search and seizure by the STRT in December resulted in the confiscation of a quantity of fentanyl and testing indicated it contained substances resistant to naloxone, which is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
“For those folks that are using illicit drugs, there really is no quality control,” he warned. “You don’t know what you’re getting from one batch to the other. Just because the stuff that you bought last time was purple and it was fine, and then you buy purple again this time, it doesn’t mean anything, even if it comes from the same person.”