Second quarter crime statistics for Red Deer, coupled with an update on the 2016-17 Annual Policing Plan (APP), show a relatively consistent picture for the City as far as criminal activity and positive news about the crime reduction work being done by Red Deer RCMP.
Persons crimes from Jan. 1st to June 30th are consistent with the same time last year, and still fall below numbers from the same period in 2012 through 2014.
An increase in property crimes is also consistent with the previous four-year trend that was seen across Alberta, while motor vehicle collisions decreased in both injury and property damage categories.
“Property crimes continue to be a priority for RCMP, and we’re aggressively targeting prolific career criminals with our new crime reduction strategy,” said Insp. Heidi Wild, acting detachment commander for Red Deer RCMP. “Our focus is on career criminals with an active history of property crime; one piece of that strategy includes actively checking on those who are required to follow court-imposed conditions, and sending them back to jail when they aren’t complying.”
The crime reduction strategy has been titled Project Pinpoint because of its focus on data analysis and targeted enforcement. From April 1st to Aug. 10th, Red Deer RCMP conducted 192 checks on targeted people, places and criminal patterns, including 65 identified people on parole and/ or probation and more than 20 career criminals with an active history of property crime. These strategies resulted in 121 criminal charges being laid and 80 warrants executed during that time period.
The implementation of Project Pinpoint was identified as a priority in the 2016-2017 APP, along with monitoring high-risk domestic offenders, youth, road safety and organized crime. The APP objectives and measures for success are developed each year by Red Deer RCMP in conjunction with Red Deer City council and the City of Red Deer, and the numbers for the first three months show RCMP are on target to achieve and exceed the objectives.
“Community safety and crime reduction is a priority for our public and a priority for City council,” said Mayor Tara Veer. “Project Pinpoint is just one example of where we’ve made enforcement progress as a result of implementing the Annual Policing Plan. We still have work to do; however, the updated policing priorities enable us to become even more proactive in identifying and addressing citizens’ safety concerns, and the APP highlights where we’ve been able to reduce crime and where we need to focus our enforcement efforts in the upcoming year.”
– Fawcett
