The Battlefords city detachment of the RCMP had to deal with spikes in property and person offences in September, though break and enters were down for the month.
That is based on figures submitted in the monthly RCMP report to the city, prepared by Staff Sgt. Phil Wilson and submitted to North Battleford's municipal services committee this week.
The RCMP responded to 1,243 calls for service in September, up from 1,237 for the same period in 2009. For the year to date the RCMP is busier than they were last year, with 11,484 calls for service through September compared to 11,241 last year. The biggest hike for the month was found in the person offences category, with 94 recorded in the month compared to 61 the previous year during the same period.
As well, property offences were up to 238 from 219. Provincial traffic offences were up to 155 from 115 and drug offences up to 13 from four.
There were some welcome drops for the month, however, particularly in the residential break and enter category. Only 10 were recorded last month compared to 36 for the same period last year when the city was experiencing a wave of residential break and enters.
Business break and enters were also down for the month to four from five.
Criminal code offences were also down for the month to 144 from 178, with liquor act offences and municipal bylaw infractions also registering drops for the month.
For the year to date the RCMP is still seeing increases in most major categories, although there has been a noticeable turnaround in the statistics for residential break and enters, with those calls down 24 per cent for the year from 187 to 142.
Business break and enters are up 45 per cent for the year, however. Also up are person offences (29 per cent), property offences (seven per cent), criminal code offences (two per cent) and drug offences (44 per cent). Impaired driving offences are also up slightly for the year (two per cent)
Liquor act offences are down 41 per cent for the year and municipal bylaw offences down 46 per cent. Motor vehicle collision calls are also down 25 per cent for the year from 273 to 205.
According to Wilson, the increases in the property and the criminal code offences categories can be partially attributed to correct scoring of incidents that previously may have been classified as Liquor Act offences.
The month of September also saw members logging 38 foot patrols of the downtown core, along with numerous vehicle patrols of the downtown as well as random patrols throughout the city. The issue of more patrolling downtown and elsewhere has been a key concern raised by councillors at meetings over the past several weeks.
Among the municipal traffic crime statistics, there were 19 incidents recorded of failure to stop for a school bus stop arm, in the wake of the new rules brought in following last year's referendum where citizens voted to restore the use of school bus stop arms and flashing lights in the city.
Crime files of note during the month included a stabbing at the skatepark Sept. 3. A 17-year-old youth was charged and eventually convicted and sentenced to 18 months for aggravated assault in connection to the case.
The RCMP had also responded to a call at the North Battleford bus depot Sept. 4 with respect to a man who was escorted off the bus. Upon further investigation by police, a knife and an amount of marijuana was found. The suspect was eventually charged with possession of a controlled substance and breach of conditions. On the same day, RCMP members found and arrested a man on a warrant for robbery, and also charged the individual with carrying a concealed weapon.
RCMP also responded to a complaint of a man being robbed at knife point in the early hours of Sept. 19. That led to the arrest of a woman charged with two counts of robbery with an offensive weapon and a man charged with possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace, two counts of robbery with an offensive weapon and one count of an adult disguised to commit an offence.
RCMP were also busy responding to several fires in the city during an especially busy month. They continue to investigate what was deemed a suspicious fire at the Real Canadian Wholesale Club on September 8.
As well, members were actively involved in an investigation, along with North Battleford Fire and Emergency Services, that led to the arrest of an adult man in respect to a string of suspicious dumpster fires in early-to-mid September.
