OLDS — COVID-19 restrictions played a role – good and bad – in Olds crime stats from April 1 to June 30, according to statistics provided by Staff Sgt. Warren Wright, commanding officer of the Olds RCMP detachment.
Wright presented those stats during town council’s policies and priorities meeting on Sept. 7.
He said April 1-June 30 is the first quarter of the fiscal year.
Twenty-one assaults were recorded during the first quarter of this year; the highest figure during the period over the past five years. Six were reported during the same period last year.
Wright said the low number during the first quarter of last year is likely due to the fact, that people were generally staying home, due to COVID-19 restrictions “and behaved themselves to a large degree.”
He said some stats may be attributed to increases in domestic violence.
Two sexual assault cases were dealt with during that period compared to none during the same period a year ago. During the past five years, the highest figure recorded in that category occurred in the first quarter of 2018 when five were reported.
No robbery cases were reported during that period. One was reported during that same period in 2020. From the first quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of this year, robbery cases have ranged from none to one.
Olds RCMP dealt with 10 break-and-enter cases from April through June this year, compared to five during the first quarter of 2020. Twenty-one were recorded during the first quarter of 2017.
"That speaks to a lot of our prolific offenders in the area. I’m not just talking about Olds or Mountain View County. I’m talking about a more general central Alberta region,” Wright said.
During the first quarter of this year RCMP dealt with 10 cases of people uttering threats, up from four during the same period last year and down slightly from 12 in the first quarter of 2019.
Police received nine complaints of stolen vehicles during the first quarter of this year, up slightly from seven during the same period last year. Nineteen such thefts were recorded during the first quarter of 2017.
Olds RCMP were contacted for just one case of theft over $5,000 from April 1 through June 30 this year, down from three during the same period a year ago. During that same time period, the highest figure in that category occurred in 2019 when four such cases were recorded.
Olds RCMP responded to 30 cases of theft under $5,000 during the first quarter of this year, up from 25 during the same period a year ago.
Over the past five years, the highest figure in that category during the first quarter occurred in 2017 when 65 such cases were recorded.
Nine cases of fraud were recorded from April 1 through June 30 this year, compared to 22 for the same period last year, the highest figure recorded for that period during the past five years.
Olds RCMP dealt with one drug-related case during the first quarter of this year, down from two during the same period last year. The biggest figure recorded during that period in the past five years ago occurred in 2018 when five such cases were dealt with.
They responded to a total of 38 motor vehicle collisions during the first quarter this year, up from 20 during the same period last year. The highest figure in that category during the past five years occurred when 46 were recorded during the first quarter of 2018.
Twenty-eight cases of mischief or damage to property were recorded during the first quarter of this year, up from 19 during the same period a year ago and the highest figure recorded for that time period over the past five years.
Wright said those stats are “largely family violence-related or youth.”
He said because there were fewer restrictions this summer, more people were out and about.
“I can tell you that there has been some spray paint vandalism in town unfortunately,” he said.
Wright said Olds RCMP are working hard to make sure offenders don’t disobey conditions under which the courts have allowed them back in the community.
“I was able to determine that in the town of Olds we have six subjects who are currently under historical conditions, be it curfew or other types of conditions that we continually check on our habitual offenders to make sure that they are abiding with their release conditions,” he said.
“Just like we do our curfew and compliance checks with our local offenders, other neighbouring detachments do the same. So we’re really trying to keep on top of these high flyers."
Wright said Olds RCMP are also working hard to be more visible in the community.
