Crimes against persons and property in the town of Battleford are on the rise, according to a report presented to town council.
Staff Sgt. Phil Wilson attended the Jan. 24 town council meeting to deliver the occurrence statistics for the fourth quarter of 2010.
"Break and enters are up a bit and crimes against persons are up as well," said Wilson, adding North Battleford has seen a similar increase.
"The things that give us trouble, like drugs and alcohol and thieves, get across the bridge pretty quickly," he added.
Between October and December 2010, there were 21 person offences, compared to five in the same time period in 2009.
The person offences consisted of one criminal harassment, one harassing phone call, three uttering threats against a person, two assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm and 14 assaults. The crimes were perpetrated by six men, one woman and two youth.
Councillor Garth Walls took note of the comparatively low involvement of youth in many of the crimes.
"Lots of people assume youth are causing a lot of the problems in the community," said Walls.
Of the 154 incidents reported, only 24 were involving youth.
Wilson pointed to the success of the Serious Habitual Offenders Comprehensive Action Program, which primarily deals with youth and young adults, in reducing youth involvement in crime.
He also said many criminals, unfortunately, do not learn from their mistakes.
"Crime stats tend to be cyclical," he said, adding it's not uncommon for there to be a drop in crime rates when certain criminals are sentenced to time in jail, and an increase when they are released and reoffend.
For the entire year, there were 57 person offences in 2010, compared to 24 the year before.
Overall, there were 841 calls for service in 2010, compared to 745 in 2009.
Wilson also introduced Cpl. Jason Teniuk, who will be serving as the Town's interim liaison officer until a permanent replacement is found for Sgt. Lutzko, who was transferred to another detachment.
