The Canmore RCMP detachment has seen an increase in property crimes from 2014 to 2016 and local law enforcement officials have plans for how they are going to address those types of crimes in 2017.
Sgt. Ryan Currie of the Canmore detachment was in front of council at its committee of the whole meeting to go over 2016 statistics.
Currie went over the detachment’s traffic enforcement plan for the year, the added long weekend resources they bring in and checkstops that occur.
But in 2016, he said, property crimes were up when compared to statistics over the past two years.
“Last year we saw an increase in vehicle thefts. It was not statistically significant, but when we do see small increases it is something we tend to look at,” he said, adding RCMP deployed a bait car in the community. “We used it a number of times in different areas, unfortunately, it was not disturbed.”
Currie said the RCMP is looking at using a bait vehicle again in 2017, but that they are also going to use a bait bicycle to try and target bike theft in the community.
“We are looking at a similar program,” he told council. “We are working out the bugs and should be in operation in spring and into winter as well.”
Total property crimes in 2016 were 569, practically the same as the 568 incidents of property crime (reported to the RCMP) in 2015. But it is up from 436 reported in 2014 – an increase of 133, or 30 per cent.
In 2016 that broke down to 31 break and enters, 25 theft of motor vehicles, 11 theft over $5,000, 202 theft under $5,000 and the remainder of the charges were comprised of possession of stolen goods, fraud, arson and mischief to property.
Currie said there were incidents in 2016 of people rummaging through parked vehicles and stealing from them, and said he recommends people lock their car doors at night to prevent that kind of crime.
“We want to still put it out to the public that if you lock your doors your vehicle might not be rifled through,” he said.
Crimes that were assaults or offences against another person like robbery, sexual assault, assault, criminal harassment and uttering threats, however, were down in 2016 compared to the year before.
Total numbers reported to Canmore RCMP in 2016 were 140 incidents, which is down significantly from 199 reported in 2015. Last year, however, was on par with numbers from 2014 (149) and 2013 (141).
Drug related crimes were similar in 2016 and down slightly from 2013-14. Last year, RCMP statistics show there were 55 charges related to drug enforcement (37 for possession and 17 for trafficking). In 2015, there were 54 charges (32 possession and 22 trafficking) and in 2014, 62 charges (28 possession and 33 trafficking). For 2013 it was 65 (37 possession and 26 trafficking).
“We had success with (drug enforcement) projects over the last couple of years and we still have the general investigation section working on intelligence gathering,” Currie said.
Canmore’s police committee also submitted its end of year report for council. The committee met four times over the year with a new structure, approved by council in December 2015.
It recommended the 2017-18 budget for policing keep staffing level the same, at 19 members, and that $31,350 be approved for enhanced policing on long weekends and busy summer events.
