OLDS — From April through June, criminal harassment cases in Olds rose by 425 per this year compared to the same period last year, from nine to 21, according to the Olds RCMP’s second quarter report.
Olds RCMP Detachment commanding officer Staff Sgt. Warren Wright presented that report to council during its Aug. 26 meeting.
Coun. Dan Daley asked for an explanation.
“I found that quite concerning,” he said.
Wright defined criminal harassment as “bothering somebody else to the point that they have to start altering their behaviour to avoid it.”
He said the vast majority of those cases involve disputes between a certain few neighbours.
Protective Services director Justin Andrew made much the same point when he presented his department’s quarterly report during that same council meeting.
“We're finding that there's a lot of situations where people are just generally not willing to comply. The whole premise of, you know, just be a good neighbour and don't create a problem,” Andrew said.
“We see some spikes in that where just people just don't care or don't want to, and as a result, they involve law enforcement or municipal enforcement and trying to seek resolution. There's a lot of complaints that come as a result.”
He confirmed that a few bad apples seem to be largely responsible.
“There can be a very small number of people that can account for a lot of work, and it does spill over to municipal enforcement as well,” Andrew said.
