ESTEVAN - The Estevan Police Service continues to see a decrease in overall call volumes in 2024, but crimes against property and crimes against the person are up for the year.
Statistics released during Wednesday's meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners show the EPS has had 4,939 calls for service through Aug. 31, which is a 12.8 per cent drop from 5,661 for the first eight months of 2023. The total calls for August were also down, from 728 in 2023 to 619 in 2024.
There were 17 crimes against the person for August, up from eight for the same month a year ago. Last month saw 11 assaults, five sexual crimes and one assault causing bodily harm.
So far this year, the EPS has had 118 crimes against the person, with 82 assaults, 23 sexual crimes and nine assaults causing bodily harm accounting for the bulk of the activity. There were 105 crimes against the person through Aug. 31, 2023.
Chief Jamie Blunden said the increase in assaults causing bodily harm, from four to nine, is something they're monitoring. He wants to know if these are domestics or for another reason.
There were 36 crimes against property in August, down from 42 for the same month last year. Twenty thefts under $5,000 occurred last month. There were also eight mischief/willful damage complaints and two thefts over $5,000 reported. Five break and enters occurred, with three at residences, one at a business and one listed as other.
Blunden noted the thefts of motor vehicles are up substantially from seven a year earlier.
"A lot of those charges that you see that are up are as the result of taking an auto without the owner's consent," said Blunden.
Member at large Roberta DeRosier asked if they could designate the vehicle thefts that reflect taking without consent. Blunden replied that when the EPS is going to talk about something more in-depth, he said he would find out more information.
So far this year, there have been 301 crimes against property, led by 164 thefts under $5,000, 86 mischief/willful damage complaints, 21 thefts of a motor vehicle and 19 residential break and enters. A total of 260 crimes against property were reported in the first three months of last year.
The report showed two trafficking occurrences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act through the drug busts that occurred. There was one for trafficking and one for production in August 2023.
EPS numbers show 12 occurrences for trafficking and eight for possession so far this year, compared to 29 (17 for trafficking and 12 for possession) for the same time a year ago.
Eleven Criminal Code traffic violations were laid, with seven for impaired or exceed-related offences and four for dangerous driving and other. There were 26 such charges in August 2023, including 24 for impaired or exceed.
So far this year, there have been 85 charges for Criminal Code traffic, including 56 for impaired /exceed-related offences, 16 for impairment by drug and 13 for dangerous driving and other.
The five-year average for the EPS is 5,511 calls for service, with 13 under the CDSA, 62.2 for Criminal Code Traffic Violations, 113 for crimes against property and 21 for crimes against the person.
The meeting was the first for Braden Lonsberry as the acting administrative sergeant, a role that is part of the EPS executive team alongside Blunden and Deputy Chief Warren Morrical. The EPS is alternating the role among sergeants for four months to give them experience. Sgt. Tyler McMillen was the previous administrative sergeant.
"I think it's proven very effective, and then it gives the management team a better idea when … that opening has to be filled," said Mayor Roy Ludwig, who is the chair of the police board.
It was also the first police board meeting for Blunden as chief. He started with the city on Sept. 3.
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