Red Deer’s crime statistics for the third quarter of 2018 continue to show decreases in property crime totals and persons crimes when compared to the same time period in 2017.

This downward trend has continued over the last four consecutive quarters, beginning in October 2017 and continuing through Sept. 30th, 2018. Total Criminal Code files also continue to show a decrease when compared to the same time periods the year before.

Property crime numbers for the third quarter show a 31% decrease in break and enters: 979 so far this year, compared to 1,129 during the same time period in 2017.

Likewise, theft of motor vehicles in 2018 are at 728, compared to 1,148 for the same time period in 2017 – a 37% decrease and the lowest theft of vehicle numbers Red Deer has seen in five years.

Fraud, theft under $5,000 and mischief to property also show similar decreases.

Total property crimes for 2018 have decreased to 8,977 from 12,987 over the same time frame in 2017, a 31% decrease. Property crimes numbers for the first nine months of 2018 are the lowest they’ve been in the last five years.

In persons crimes, Red Deer has seen a 29% decrease in robberies compared to the same time period in 2017.

Sexual assaults, however, continue to increase – the numbers are 35% higher than the same time frame in 2017. Traffic collisions resulting in injury decreased from last year, while collisions involving property damage continue to be slightly higher than in 2017.

Traffic fatalities, however, have increased – Red Deer has experienced two fatalities as a result of traffic collisions so far this year.

Red Deer RCMP have seen consistent increase in calls to the RCMP complaint line in 2018, indicating the public’s commitment to reporting crime and helping police to target hot spots.

Calls to the complaint line have increased from 38,500 in the first nine months of 2017 to 39,781 in 2018, an increase of three per cent.

“RCMP understands that crime feels more visible to the community than ever. It can be difficult to believe that crime rates are declining when citizens see so many reports on crime-focused social media sites, and when some businesses keep getting hit by the same handful of career criminals.

“But the overall numbers are in fact going down, and our commitment is to keep putting the pressure on those repeat offenders and returning them to jail at every opportunity,” says Supt. Ken Foster, officer in charge of the Red Deer RCMP. “There are so many committed citizens in the community helping police every day, and we thank you for that.”

Crime statistics for each Alberta RCMP-policed jurisdiction are gathered by RCMP operations support analysts.

These statistics are gathered in the same way for every detachment to ensure they are comparable and meet Statistics Canada requirements.

With regard to Pinpoint, the RCMP’s City-wide crime reduction strategy, between July 10th and Oct. 10th of 2018 Red Deer RCMP conducted 571 checks on targeted people, including 19 identified people on parole and/or probation and 39 more career criminals with an active history of property crime.

RCMP conducted another 1,988 checks in crime hot spots and targeted addresses.

During the third quarter of 2018, 104 charges have been laid specific to targets identified through Pinpoint, and 98 warrants have been executed.

“Community safety and crime reduction remain a priority for council and for our citizens, and we continue to see results from these efforts,” said Mayor Tara Veer.

“We’ve set clear crime reduction goals in our local Annual Policing Plan, and we’re proud of the diligent work the RCMP is doing to achieve these goals and continue the downward trend in crime. We are confident that we will see further overall crime reduction with the addition of the Downtown Police Enforcement Unit.”

Red Deer crime statistics are released on a quarterly basis. For more detailed information, see the 2018 third quarter crime statistics.

-Submitted by the City of Red Deer