Red Deer RCMP detachment (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Alessia Proietti

Q1 crime statistics update

No new PACT teams for Red Deer but increase in reporting on persons crime, according to RCMP

Sep 6, 2023 | 11:02 AM

Red Deer will not be seeing an expansion of their Police and Crisis Teams (PACT) but has seen an increase in reporting of persons crimes, particularly in sexual assaults, according to local RCMP.

At Tuesday’s meeting, city council received an update on their Annual Policing Plan (APP) and first quarter crime statistics from April – June.

PACT TEAMS

The PACT program pairs a psychiatric nurse with an RCMP officer to provide specialized policing resources for mental health calls in Red Deer.

Currently, there are two PACT teams in the city and the program does not run over a 24-hour span. The RCMP shared in their previous quarterly report this June that they would be working to add two more teams.

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However, the report confirms that Alberta Health Services has decided they will not fund two additional psychiatric nurses for the teams.

While the RCMP states they will continue to work towards the goal of four PACT teams, they say 97 per cent of Red Deer’s officers have completed enhanced trauma training to better respond to mental health calls.

INCREASE IN PERSONS CRIMES

Report statistics show all property crime types have decreased by eight per cent this quarter compared to Q1 in 2022.

“Consistent reporting of suspicious activity and crime, even petty crimes, leads to robust data which becomes the foundation of our policing approach. All of our units, from General Duty to the General Investigation Section and Crime Reduction Unit utilize this data to provide intelligence-led policing,” said Inspector Heidi Ravenhill. “We are seeing real-time results where this data informs our patrols and we have interrupted crimes in progress. While the decrease in property crime is positive, the RCMP continues to encourage Red Deerians to report crimes.”

However, persons crimes rose this quarter compared to last year’s by 13 per cent, with notable increases in the following crimes:

• Robberies: 31 incidents in 2022 and 38 in 2023 (23 per cent)
• Sexual Assaults: 49 in 2022 and 70 in 2023 (43 per cent)
• Other Sexual Offences: 15 in 2022 and 27 in 2023 (80 per cent)
• Criminal Harassment: 74 in 2022 and 91 in 2023 (23 per cent)
• Uttering Threats: 129 in 2022 and 165 in 2023 (28 per cent)

Ravenhill says while these trends fluctuate yearly, the statistics may be due to more reporting rather than an increase in offences. She continued to encourage victims to come forward and report.

Staff Sergeant Rob Marsollier says an effective tool has been the use of drones to capture suspects during or after a crime has taken place. He says that since its first utilization in 2021, the drone has been deployed over 200 times and its infrared technology allows officers to see where a suspect has fled, where they are and where they are going. He adds it has saved them time as they no longer have to wait for a helicopter from the RCMP’s Alberta headquarters in Edmonton.

Marsollier states that the province of Saskatchewan has already added a drone to each detachment, and he anticipates Alberta will eventually follow suit.

Ravenhill added that they have also seen an increase complaints regarding internet child exploitation. She confirmed that the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) has added an Integrated Child Exploitation (ICE) officer to the Red Deer detachment. Marsollier says the position has been filled and the officer should be arriving by the end of the month.

VANDALISM

Mayor Ken Johnston shared that numerous downtown businesses have recently voiced frustrations over vandalism this summer.

While the report shows a decrease in mischief, it only has statistics up to the end of June.

On September 12, the RCMP will be hosting a workshop specific to the downtown business strategy to increase visibility in the community. Ravenhill says the workshop will be for mayor and council but not the public.

The RCMP said they have done other community-led policing initiatives to develop relationships and work with businesses, community associations, and the public to provide proactive policing and education. In the last quarter, Red Deer RCMP officers met with 59 community groups to provide education and spread awareness about a range of issues, including fraud trends, diversity and inclusion issues, and crime prevention tips.

“We use crime trends to select specific groups to meet with,” she said. “For example, our Youth and Community Action Team met with senior citizen groups to provide warnings about the financially destructive grandparent scam which has been an ongoing issue throughout Alberta.”

The 2022-24 APP was developed by the Red Deer RCMP through community consultation in early 2022, with the top three policing priorities identified as Police Response and Visibility, Crime Reduction, and Engaged Community Partners.

For more information about the Annual Policing Priorities, visit www.reddeer.ca/APP.