Olds is a relatively safe community and the RCMP is working diligently on making it even safer, said the detachment's commander.
“Some criminal activity is down in the community, and I think there's a number of factors that come (into) play. Everybody's doing a fine job and some of the stats are showing,” said Staff Sgt. Joe Sangster in an interview after the meeting, noting that more members are able to make patrols and educate the public about certain activities. Other groups such as schools are also helping to make a difference.
Sangster was responding to a report prepared by detachment members that tracked incidents of crime in Olds from January to the end of August 2013 and compared those numbers to the same time period in 2012. The report tracked crimes against people, property, drug-related offences and traffic occurrences, among other items. The statistics were shared with the Olds and District Policing Advisory Society at a meeting on Sept. 24, although no members of the Olds RCMP detachment were present at the meeting.
Total Criminal Code offences were down by 0.9 per cent from January to the end of August 2013 over the same period in 2012, including assault, uttering threats, break and enter, theft of vehicles and other offences. Total drug-related offences were down 59 per cent as of Aug. 31, 2013, compared to the same time in 2012, with 17 occurrences in 2012 and only seven in 2013.
Provincial traffic offences were up to 1,178 occurrences by Aug. 31, 2013, compared to 783 in the same time period in 2012. There were 35 Criminal Code traffic offences logged by the end of August 2013, compared to 56 during the same time period in 2012.
Sangster said traffic-related enforcement often depends on how much of a priority the detachment commander gives such enforcement after consultation with the community. He's decided to step up that enforcement.
“I have set some expectations for my (members). That has increased in the last four months since I've come here and that's going to continue. The reason why is I want our roads to be safe, I want our kids to be safe around our schools and we're focusing on speeding and distracted driving,” he said.
Sangster encourages the public to call police whenever they think suspicious activity is occurring.
“This community's good at that and as a result, Olds is a good community to live in,” he said.
Although Sangster would like to see the number of false alarm calls RCMP respond to reduced, it is important to make sure that each alarm is checked to see if police are needed. He said some communities in Alberta have instituted bylaws fining people when police respond to false alarms, but he said Olds isn't contemplating that.
“Alarms have always been something that has been a thorn in our side. The vast majority of them are false and it ties up some of our time in having to respond to them and finding that they're false but it's a service we provide,” he said.
