Swift Current RCMP report highlights areas of concern and policing priorities
Trends in reported offences and policing priorities for Swift Current during the new fiscal year were revealed during a regular City council meeting, April 29.
Staff Sgt. Evan Gordon, the commanding officer of the Swift Current municipal RCMP detachment, presented the quarterly community policing report for the period January to March 2024, which is the final quarter of their fiscal year.
“This quarter did see some changes to a few trends and some areas maybe returned to a little bit of normalcy,” he said.
The number of business break and enters continued to be low. There were four offences during this reporting period, which is the same number than in the previous quarter.
However, for the thefts under $5,000 category the offences have been increasing again after a downward trend the previous quarter. There were 60 offences during the January to March 2024 period compared to 47 during October to December 2023. The latest number is also similar to the 68 offences reported in this category for January to March 2023.
Offences under the category for fraud increased noticeably from 18 for the period January to March 2023 to 38 for this same period in 2024.
“Frauds continue to be an area that are rising quite a bit higher than we would like,” he said. “Whether that is a result of education or people becoming a little bit more comfortable reporting them, or just simply the fact that more people are falling victim to frauds, any one of those could impact these numbers.”
The Swift Current RCMP received fewer reports of impaired drivers from January to March, but the number of impaired drivers charged remained more or less the same at an average of around eight to 10 individuals.
“I can speak to the quality work that’s being done by our police officers that are out there watching for and checking impaired drivers,” he said.
He is expecting an increase in the number of impaired driving charges in future reports due to the implementation of mandatory alcohol screenings during all lawful traffic stops by the Saskatchewan RCMP since April 1.
There was one drug overdose related to the use of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, during the period January to
March, but it was not fatal.
He referred to the contribution of the detachment’s Police and Crisis Team (PACT) worker Karla Rempel, who dealt with 37 calls or referrals in relation to mental health and there were two diversions from custody.
“We’re continuing to see the impact of Karla with some of our repeat callers, folks that seem to be experiencing crisis on a little bit more frequent timeline,” Gordon said. “She has been able to provide some meaningful supports and linking them with meaningful support. I can think of probably three for sure that even though Karla is still interacting with them, it’s on a much more positive level and more as a maintenance than dealing with a crisis.”
There continues to be an ongoing increase in the number of mental health related calls received by the detachment.
“Mental health calls quite often do act as a bit of a catch-all as well for different crises that people are going through and not all of them end up with someone needing a police officer’s help or a physician’s help,” he said. “Sometimes it’s just something going on at that particular moment that we’re able to assist with or that is already dealt with by the time we or Karla get there, but it is a number that continues to rise.”
The policing report shows a significant increase in the number of reported sexual offences from five during the period January to March 2023 to 16 for the same period in 2024.
However, Gordon explained that the higher number is due to a recent change in the way incidents of sextortion are recorded. The RCMP previously filed such offences under the category of extortion, but this has changed.
He added that this higher number might also be related to recent presentations about sextortion done by Const. Tony Curti, the RCMP school liaison officer in Swift Current.
“Const. Curti was also very active in the schools this last quarter providing presentations to our Grade 8s and 9s about distributing intimate images and sharing intimate images with classmates and friends,” Gordon said. “I think that those presentations, although meant as an educational piece, probably did spur a few reports, which is a positive, because we want to know when those things are happening so that we can deal with those specific examples.”
He referred to the actions taken by the Swift Current RCMP during the reporting period to address the priorities in the detachment’s action plan for 2023-24. In the area of drug enforcement and awareness the detachment assisted the Saskatchewan Trafficking Response Team to carry out a search warrant. This police action was very visible and caused some individuals afterwards to leave the city.
“So some of it is enforcement, but there’s definitely a preventative aspect to those sorts of actions as well,” he said.
The detachment’s work in the priority area of traffic safety, distracted driving and impaired driving resulted in the issuing of 29 tickets and 10 warnings. Distracted driving due to the use of cell phones continues to be an area of concern. Eight impaired drivers were charged during this past quarter.
A key part of the priority area of reducing crime involving youth is the ongoing work done by Const. Curti in the schools with the assistance of other uniformed officers. He is not only working at the high school, but also visiting other schools in the city.
Gordon referred to the Swift Current RCMP’S detachment action plan for the new fiscal year of 2024-25.
“I’ve taken into consideration the requests of council, as well as things that
I’ve heard from the detachment and from community members,” he said. “The way that we’ve set it up this year is to focus on property crime, which has been an issue. It’s something that I’ve spoken about quite frequently over the last four quarters.”
He added that this new focus on property crime will still address matters related to drug enforcement, because there are often ties to drug use in property crime.
“I feel like we’re going to be able to make an impact on both,” he said. “By focusing on property crime specifically this year, I think it allows us to try some different things and forces us to maybe think outside the box a little bit.”
The detachment will continue to focus on youth involvement as a priority area to prevent and reduce crime involving youth.
Fraud prevention will be another priority area for the detachment during the new fiscal year. He has already been making contact with the business community through the Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce about standardized training for employees, how to report crimes and what to do when they see something suspicious.
Fraudsters have targeted city residents with a variety of scams, stretching from the grandparent scam where a person is tricked to think the fraudster is a grandchild that needs help to investment and romance scams.
“There’s no limit to what it can look like and the forms that it can take,” he said. “Fraud really is only limited by the imagination of the person that is conducting the fraudulent activity. … I know I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again. Anything that seems too good to be true usually is, but people want to believe.”