Red Deer’s 2017 crime statistics halfway through the year show a slight decrease in persons crimes, and a slowing in the growth seen over the past few years regarding property crimes; traffic collisions resulting in injury continue to decrease every year, while collisions involving property damage increased slightly when compared to this time last year.
“RCMP are pleased to say that in the first quarter of 2017, persons crimes were the lowest they’ve been in five years, and those numbers remained lower in the second quarter than during the same time period last year,” said Supt. Ken Foster, officer in charge at the Red Deer RCMP detachment. “We saw more good news in that the total Criminal Code numbers in the first and second quarters of 2017 were lower than the same time frames last year.”
While property crimes have continued to show a slight increase in 2017, theft of motor vehicles dipped in the first quarter to be slightly lower than the same time frame in 2016, before rising slightly again in the second quarter two. Criminal charges for possession of stolen property also rose in the first six months of the year, as RCMP continue to target those career criminals responsible for much of the property crime in the community.
Between April 12th and July 11th, Red Deer RCMP conducted 593 checks on targeted people, places and criminal patterns, including 24 identified people on parole and/or probation and 25 more career criminals with an active history of property crime. Preliminary analysis shows at least 37 charges have been laid specific to Project Pinpoint targets during this time period, with more pending; 57 warrants have been executed.
“Community safety and crime reduction have been identified as the top priority by our public. In response to community concern, City council has been actively working with City staff, the RCMP and community agencies to elevate our local enforcement and crime prevention efforts,” said Mayor Tara Veer. “It’s encouraging to see that our efforts are paying off with reductions in persons crimes; however we know we still have work to do with respect to specific areas, such as property crime, which has been identified as a priority in our local Annual Policing Plan.”
Red Deer crime statistics are released on a quarterly basis.
– Fawcett
