DIDSBURY - Didsbury RCMP detachment saw an increase of 23 per cent in persons crimes in 2018 from January to the end of November, said Staff Sgt. Chad Fournier.
The data is for the whole detachment area, which includes Didsbury, Carstairs, Cremona, Water Valley and the county.
"A lot of that is due to unwanted or harrassing online messaging," said Fournier.
Fournier said that property crime was down 55 per cent last year over the same period in 2017.
"That's a four-year low for our area," he said. "That is due to some significant investigations we've had in 2018 where we targeted some of our local prolific offenders. It was also due to the help of the new crime reduction team, which is based out of Airdrie."
"Injury motor vehicle collisions were down 37 per cent in 2018 compared with 2017," he said.
Police continued to receive suspicious person or suspicious vehicles complaints in 2018.
"We'd like to encourage all citizens if there is anything suspicious and out of the ordinary to please give the RCMP a call," he said. "People need to listen to their sixth sense. We can't be everywhere all the time. We rely on the public's help to solve crimes. If you see something suspicious please call."
Fournier said the RCMP has crime analysts that analyze the different investigations including these reports of suspicious persons.
"Quite often they can make links of travelling criminals that way," he said.
Domestic violence was up in 2018 compared with previous years, said Fournier.
"This has been common throughout most of Alberta in the last couple years," he said.
In other police news, firearms changes against a Mountain View County resident have been withdrawn.
James Gordon Fleischer, 68, was charged on Nov. 20 with 17 counts of unsafe storage of a firearm.
The charges were withdrawn last month , said Fournier.
