BATTLEFORD — S/Sgt Jason Teniuk presented the latest quarterly report of Battlefords RCMP to Battleford town council Monday, and there were a few areas of concern.
One area of interest was break and enters. There was a 350 per cent increase in the town for the January to March period, up from two last year during the same time to nine.
That is something they are seeing across the board, Teniuk told council. He repeated what he told North Battleford council previously: that it was “a reflection of the times we are living in right now.”
“Everything is expensive right now. I hate to say this, but I think we’re going to see an increase in that number as opposed to a decrease,” Teniuk said.
Another increase was seen in the category of thefts over $5,000, up from three to eight. This involved big value items such as machines, snowmobiles and quads.
The numbers for thefts of motor vehicles remained stable at 11 — seen as a positive insofar as the numbers did not go up.
Teniuk said they would be keeping a close eye on the number of administration of justice offences — breaches of conditions, bail violations, curfew violations and so on. Those were up during the quarter and Teniuk once again noted that offenders “seem to treat conditions as suggestions, not the law.”
One last area of note was a substantial increase in calls related to the Mental Health Act, up from 12 to 24.
Teniuk said that was one of the biggest increases that concerns him. He noted the COVID-19 pandemic had done some damage with respect to mental health, but also noted the impact on the officers in terms of workload.
“The officers are dealing with a dozen more calls of that nature, and they are not easy calls to deal with. They are complex, they can take a lot of time and they take the officers away from dealing with other things.”
Regarding the most serious crimes such as murders, shootings, and so on, those are low in general. Teniuk indicated a lot of those numbers were impacted by the work of the Gang Task Force.
In terms of staffing, Teniuk reported they are now down to five vacant positions with some recent additions, and noted they were in good shape, the best they had been in a long time.
Teniuk also gave another plug of support to the Citizens on Patrol program, which has been seeking to turn around its recent decline in volunteer members. Teniuk told council they have “big plans” for Citizens on Patrol if they can get the numbers up.
