Crime was down in several categories according to the April numbers released by Battlefords city detachment of the RCMP.
Councillors received the report at a May 24 regular council meeting, and they said they were pleased to see drops in residential and business break and enters as well as in property offences. The report was submitted by S/Sgt. Phil Wilson, who was not in attendance at the meeting.
Compared to April 2010, property offences were down from 263 to 186, residential break and enters down from 23 to six, and business break and enters down from seven to one.
Other categories saw slight increases, with person offences up for the month to 72 from 68, criminal code offences up to 173 from 157 and liquor act offences up to 46 from 36.
Provincial traffic offences and impaired operation of a motor vehicle were both up for the month. Traffic offences rose from 229 to 338 and impaired operation from 21 to 22.
Overall calls for service for the month were down to 1,197 from 1,362.
For the year to date drops are being noticed in most major categories: person offences down one per cent, business break and enters down 60 per cent, residential break and enters down 46 per cent, property offences down 36 per cent and Criminal Code offences down nine per cent.
Also, provincial traffic offences are up to 714 from 645 for the year and impaired operation of a motor vehicle up to 101 from 82, but as City Manager Jim Toye pointed out, that is actually good news as police are able to devote more resources to traffic control as directed by council.
Overall, calls for service are down for the year to 4.321 from 4.609.
Councillor Trent Houk expressed satisfaction with the drops in break and enters and property offences, calling it "nice to see."
Councillor Ron Crush said improvements are a result of a more visible police presence in the community to prevent crime from happening.
"I continue to be a proponent of policing as a preventative measure", said Crush, who said he believes the police presence is being reflected in the statistics.
