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By Alessia Proietti

Confiding in police

Property crime decrease in Red Deer but persons crime shows increase, RCMP report

Feb 21, 2024 | 4:53 PM

According to Red Deer RCMP in their Quarterly Community Policing Report, property crimes have decreased significantly; however, persons crimes have shown a slight increase.

At city council’s meeting on Monday, Superintendent Holly Glassford presented the report covering the third quarter from October 1 – December 31, 2023.

Glassford said that property crimes have decreased by nine per cent compared to last year’s quarter and 27.8 per cent compared to two years ago. During this quarter, there were 1,952 property crime offences reported compared to Q3 of 2021 with property crimes totaling 2,704.

She says this is due to her team conducting multiple checks on prolific offenders. Community Peace Officers conducted 43 Criminal Code investigations for Theft under $5,000 and Mischief under $5,000.

The report states that this is the most impressive quarter during this Annual Policing Plan (APP) reporting period. The Crime Reduction Team recovered nine stolen vehicles in this quarter which included a total of 58 charges.

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Notable actual crime statistics include break and enters that decreased by 13 per cent, motor vehicle thefts by 20 per cent, and mischief damage to property by 15 per cent; however, theft over $5,000 increased by 27 percent.

On the other hand, persons crimes increased by 22 per cent in Q3 compared to last year’s quarter, and by 11 per cent overall from 2022 to 2023.

Glassford said while some of these can be connected to property crimes, another reason for the increase may be due to people feeling more comfortable coming forward as police have been working to build relationships in the community.

“When we make those connections, sometimes our citizens feel more comfortable in bringing their complaints forward or, [for] persons crimes, in reporting them and providing statements to us. Sometimes, the increase in persons crimes can often be correlated with that familiarity and that comfort with speaking with police,” she said.

According to the crime statistics, in Q3 2023, there were increases of 24 per cent for other sexual offences, 23 per cent for assault, 60 per cent for abductions, 27 per cent for extortion, 21 per cent for criminal harassment, and 41 per cent for uttering threats, compared to the third quarter of 2022. Offences related to death and sexual assaults decreased by 60 and 19 per cent, respectively.

However, Glassford says that over the past five years, from 2019 to 2023, persons crimes decreased by three per cent with the average file count per year decreasing by 39. She claims the overall five-year view is the best indicator of crime trends and intelligence-led policing strategies.

She adds that the file category of uttering threats was a large contributor to the increase which can be related to a variety of factors such as mental health issues and familial violence, with many related to the drug trade.

Glassford said that persons crimes will be among RCMP’s new priorities for the 2024-26 APP.

Other notable points of the report include 979 investigations in the downtown area, with 57 per cent of them self-generated by police. They resulted in 129 arrests with 28 Criminal Code charges laid, 157 arrest warrants executed totaling 260 charges, 293.7 grams of illicit drugs seized, and 12 IRS sanctions issued for both impaired driving and suspended drivers. It adds the Downtown Unit made daily referrals for supports to vulnerable populations on all files.

Glassford encouraged residents to continue to contact police if they see a crime taking place.

The report also confirms that 20 per cent of all chargeable youth were diverted from the judicial system.

For the drug court program, Glassford says 12 are currently admitted, two have graduated, and two are in the assessment stage. She says seven have been unsuccessful due to noncompliance or not having met the parameters. On average, annual charge rates for those in the program have decreased by 84 per cent and half of participants have less contact with the police either as an offender, victim, or witness to a crime.

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