ESTEVAN - The Estevan Police Service has released a collection of data from the first three months of the year.
The EPS said in last year’s business plan that it would be releasing the numbers on a quarterly basis. The first-quarter information was posted to the EPS website on Monday.
Officers have participated in 12 targeted traffic enforcement operations this year. Included were three high-visibility check stops which 635 vehicles were checked. Officers were called to 15 motor-vehicle collisions, with eight of them coming in March.
Eleven arrests occurred under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA), and an estimated $76,661 in drugs and property were seized.
Officers attended 13 external training courses and conferences, three internal training courses, dedicated 1,440 hours to training and participated in three combined service training events.
They also had 140 staff training hours on health and wellness. Twenty-nine participated in a fitness program and five are in a financial wellness program.
The EPS also had 55 total calls for service for mental health emergencies, and the police and crisis team (PACT) was deployed 40 teams. PACT has made 19 referrals to external agencies and had 26 client follow-ups. There were 45 well-being checks conducted.
Fiscally, the EPS had $112,200 in government funding for positions in the first quarter, and the police used 19.7 per cent of its budget, compared to the 24.7 per cent forecasted.
The EPS noted it also has 203 officers per 100,000 people, second in the province behind Prince Albert, which has 229.
The EPS also had 119 compliance and conditions checks on known offenders, attended 115 special events and community engagements, had 35 hours of foot patrols and received four Crime Stoppers tips.
Seventeen per cent of reported criminal incidents resulted in charges.
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Call volumes remain higher for the Estevan Police Service (EPS) when compared to last year, but they are still below the five-year average.
Numbers released at the April 12 meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners show the EPS had 669 calls for service in March, bringing their total for the year to 1,768, or 16 per cent more than the 1,518 they had for the first three months of last year.
They had 571 calls for service in March 2022.
The data for March shows the EPS had 11 crimes against persons, with six assaults and five sexual crimes. Those two offences also account for all 32 crimes against persons reported in the first three months of this year, with 25 assaults and seven sex crimes.
There were eight crimes against persons a year ago.
Twenty-two crimes against property were reported, with 14 thefts under $5,000 and eight mischief/wilful damage complaints. So far this year, there have been 58 crimes against property, with 27 thefts under $5,000, 23 mischief/willful damage complaints, seven residential break and enters and one theft of a motor vehicle.
March 2022 saw 25 crimes against property.
Four charges were laid under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) last month, with three for trafficking and one for possession. So far this year, eight charges for trafficking and nine for possession have been laid.
Last year there were six CDSA charges for March.
Eleven Criminal Code Traffic violations were laid last month, all for impaired driving and/or exceeding the legal limit. Thirty-eight such charges have been laid this year, with 29 for impaired/exceed, four for impairment by drug and five for dangerous driving/other.
Eight charges were laid in March 2022.
Member-at-large Roberta DeRosier asked about the number of offences for impaired driving and exceeding the legal limit. She wanted to know if that was a cause for concern.
Police Chief Rich Lowen responded it was due to increased enforcement.
The five-year average is 20.4 crimes against persons, 62.2 crimes against property, 25.4 Criminal Code traffic violations and 12.8 CDSA charges in the first three months from 2018-2022. And the EPS had an average of 1,859 calls for service for those months.
The monthly report for Special Const. Anna Volmer shows she had 110 occurrences last month. Thirty-four were listed as other bylaw, 28 were parking violations and 19 were animal calls.
So far this year, she has had 363 occurrences and infractions, led by 84 parking violations, 76 snow removal notices, 43 animal calls and 26 unkempt property violations. She has also had 83 listed as other bylaw.
