OLDS — Crime is down by 29 per cent year over year in the Olds RCMP detachment's rural area and down 22 per cent in the town, police say.
COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are a big factor in those figures, according to Sgt. Jody Achtymichuk, the acting commanding officer of the Olds RCMP detachment.
During a presentation to town council last month, Achtymichuk said in the detachment's rural area, property crime is down 34 per cent, persons crimes have fallen 20 per cent and other Criminal Code offences declined by four per cent.
Drilling down into property crime stats, Achtymichuk said over the past year, rural break and enters are down 47 per cent (33 fewer instances), theft of motor vehicles is down 51 per cent (28 fewer instances), and there was a 41 per cent drop in theft of property valued at less than $5,000 (43 fewer instances).
Achtymichuk said in Olds, persons crimes fell by 20 per cent and property crimes dropped by 35 per cent.
Theft of motor vehicles dropped by 57 per cent (66 fewer instances), break and enters fell by 18 per cent (eight fewer instances), and there was a 39 per cent drop in theft of property valued at less than $5,000 (89 fewer instances).
“It’s a lot to do with COVID and it’s a personal opinion that it has a lot to do with people staying home and being able to protect their property,” Achtymichuk said.
“A lot of these guys that are travelling and looking for opportunities know that more people are at home because of the lockdown.”
The detachment recorded a total of 34 vehicle collisions in the four quarter of 2020, down from 44 in 2019, a 23 per cent decrease. Year to year, total collisions were down 16 per cent to 157 from 187.
On the other hand, stats for other criminal code offences have risen by up to 20 per cent.
Achtymichuk said that’s because falling stats in the above-mentioned categories have given Mounties more time to deal with other files.
“It gives the officers more time to do their job and actually check on people who are on conditions or curfews,” he said.
In the fourth quarter of last year, cases of people failing to comply with conditions or other restrictions rose to 79 from 34; a 132 per cent increase. Year over year, they rose to 183 in 2020, a 42 per cent increase from 2019 when there were 129 files.
Overall, total criminal code stats in the “other” category rose to 259 in 2020, up 20 per cent from 216 in 2019.
A couple of stats were mixed.
For example, in the fourth quarter, sightings of suspicious persons or vehicles rose to 36 from 29. But year over year, those stats fell by nine per cent, from 130 in 2019 to 118 in 2020.
In the fourth quarter of 2019 the number of missing persons reported fell from four in 2019 to three in 2020. However, year to year, they rose 15 per cent, from 13 to 15.
