DIDSBURY - The town’s peace officers responded to 593 calls and/or occurrences in 2022, an increase of more than 200 over the previous year, town council heard Feb. 14.
In his regular report to council, chief administrative officer Ethan Gorner included the 2022 year end report from municipal enforcement.
According to the report, officers responded to 525 calls in town and 68 in Mountain View County last year. That compares with 301 in town and 82 in the county in 2021.
Of the total calls in 2022, 143 were traffic related, 152 Didsbury animal control, 68 county animal control, 142 community standards, 18 other bylaws, and 57 investigations and patrols.
Of the calls responded to, 158 are concluded, seven resulted in charges, 19 in municipal tickets, 23 in provincial tickets, 166 in verbal warnings, 119 in written warnings, 14 were forward to other agencies/departments, 28 are still in progress, 34 were unfound/unsolved and 22 were sent for review.
As for the method of public reporting of occurrences, 86 were action requests, 66 were dispatch services, 37 were by email, 14 were front counter, 183 were officer observed, 31 were other, 158 were phone calls, and 13 were from staff.
Gorner’s report also covered numerous other town activities.
The report outlined 2022 Didsbury Fire Department statistics, which included 82 alarm calls, seven citizen assist calls, 50 EMS assist calls, 34 mutual aid calls and 44 motor vehicle collision calls.
Of the 266 total calls responded to in 2022, 136 were in town and 96 were in the surrounding rural area.
The report also included 2022 statistics for the community services department, including total attendance at the Didsbury Aquatic Centre of 30,035 patrons and at the Didsbury arena of 43,609 patrons.
At total of 686 patrons attended community programs and events, including 200 at the Halloween Howler and 180 at the Summer Pop-Up slip and slide.
Family and Community Support Services programs and events attracted 371 patrons, including 155 at the Seniors Friends and Fun programs.
Didsbury Neighbourhood Pace referrals and information supports offered totalled 564.
The Town of Didsbury website had 134,359 visitors in 2022.
Regarding the 2022 external health and safety audit conducted on the municipality, he said, “I am pleased to inform council that the Town of Didsbury passed their external certificate of recognition (representing a passing grade) safety audit with an 88 per cent (score). With the commitment of our safety committee and all our staff this was able to be achieved.”
Council accepted Gorner’s report as information. Coun. Ethan Williams did not attend the Feb. 14 meeting.
