BATTLEFORD - Battlefords RCMP reports calls for service increased in 2024 in the latest quarterly report compared to the same time in 2023 in the town of Battleford.
Insp. Jesse Gilbert made a presentation to Battleford town council at its meeting Jan. 6 about the findings.
From July to Sept. 2024, the RCMP received a total of 301 calls for service, up by nine per cent from 275 calls for the same period in 2024.
Cases of assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm increased to nine for the period in 2024, compared to one for the same time last year.
"There was a bit of a spike in assaults, particularly assault with a weapon," Gilbert said, adding that for total assaults the five-year trend does show a decrease overall.
Property crimes saw a decrease in the number of calls for service, coming in at 82 calls for the quarter in 2024, compared to 99 for the same time in 2023, reflecting a 17 per cent decrease.
False alarm calls were up at significantly at 22 reports for the period in 2024, compared to two for the same time last year.
Looking at the past five years, the year-to-date tally shows 824 total calls for service, 20 per cent below the average of calls over the past five years for the January to September period.
Gilbert said he would like to get two more Police and Crisis Team (PACT) members to help with mental health related calls for service. Currently, the detachment has two PACT workers looking after this scope of work.
"It's something we broached to the province; it's an area we are looking at," he said. "They help out with a lot of other calls [also]...The PACT will attend calls if they feel they may be able to assist... They offer a much broader service to this community, to the city, and the First Nations than just mental health calls."
As far as staffing goes, the Battlefords RCMP could benefit from having more members as it is experiencing some vacancies. It currently has two new recruits coming shortly. A couple more senior members are expected to come in the spring.
"We're starting to see a little bit of a turnaround in the desireability of wanting to come here," Gilbert said.
He noted many people who've worked with the RCMP in the Battlefords before want to come back, which is good to see.
On the RCMP report overall, Mayor Ames Leslie said the numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt, to keep everything in perspective.
"The numbers were there," he said. "Anybody can interpret RCMP stats one way or the other. You can look and say crime is up or you can look and say the RCMP is doing their job. That's the danger of statistics. The more the RCMP are out there, the more people they are going to catch. The more crime there is, the more RCMP are responding. The areas that needed to be down were down."
Leslie added that seeing assault with a weapon numbers up is a "pause for caution," but it's "not a norm."
"We'll watch this into the next quarter, which we'll see here shortly, as the inspector had told us, to see if that trend continues," he said.
Leslie noted that many of the statistics in the report showed numbers were down in many categories, which is good to see.
He said he would like to see more officers focusing on speed control in the town, to be present and cut down on the number of drivers speeding.
"Overall, the RCMP are conducting themselves in a way that council is happy with, and we look forward to continually working to reduce the amount of crime that we have in our community," Leslie added.
The Battlefords will be seeing the provincial police force called the Saskatchewan Marshals Service coming here in the next few months, as announced by the province last year.
"In recent news, they are trying to fast track the start of this to April or May of 2025," Leslie said. "We keep hearing the RCMP training depot is never at capacity. They are having a hard time getting recruitment."
He hopes the Marshall team members aren't coming from existing policing forces, since that would have an impact on numbers across the province.
"If the Marshall service is effective in recruiting new people that aren't taking away from the everyday people working in our towns and cities, I'm good with that. But it's yet to be determined how they are going to staff their service."
On a positive side, the mayor believes having the Marshall service active in the community will be another layer of protection in policing for residents.
"If the Marshall service is successful, that they can complement what we already have, whether it's the RCMP or city polices or whatever other force may be out there, absolutely [it's a good thing]. Sometimes we just need more response; if they can get to the smaller communities quicker than the RCMP, it's just better for everybody."
