Although crimes against people and property are down this year over last year, residents shouldn’t draw any conclusions about possible trends based on that information, says the police chief.
The reason people shouldn’t draw any conclusions about a decrease in crime statistics is because those numbers are simply a snapshot in time, police Chief Rick Bourassa explained during the Board of Police Commissioner’s December meeting. He pointed out crime statistics have actually been up the last few years.
There were 38 crimes against the person this November compared to 32 incidents last November, according to crime statistics for the month. Crimes against the person include homicides, attempted murders, assaults, robberies, threats, and domestic disputes.
The numbers for those categories in November 2019 versus November 2018 show:
- Homicide: 1 / 0
- Attempted murder: 0 / 0
- Total assaults: 32 / 22
- Sexual assaults: 2 / 4
- Common assaults: 25 / 12
- Assault with weapon/cause bodily harm: 4 / 5
- Aggravated assault: 0 / 0
- Assault on police: 1 / 1
- Robbery: 2 / 2
- Threats: 5 / 6
- Domestic dispute: 2 / 12
Year to date, total crimes against the person were 412 versus 428, a decrease of 16 incidents, or 3.7 per cent.
Officers acted quickly when the first homicide of the year occurred, Bourassa said, since within eight hours a person was in custody.
“Our people did a lot of good work on that,” he added.
The number of crimes against property this November was 69 versus 161 last November, which represents a decrease of 92 incidents. The data for November 2019 and November 2018 shows:
- Break and enters into businesses, residences, other: 22 / 25
- Motor vehicle theft: 7 / 16
- Theft over $5,000: 0 / 0
- Theft under $5,000: 22 / 65
- Arson: 0 / 1
- Mischief over $5,000: 5 / 21
Year to date, total crimes against property were 1,455 versus 1,714, a decrease of 259 incidents, or 15.1 per cent.
There were nine impaired driving incidents this November compared to seven last November — year to date was 97 to 95 — while 59 people failed to comply with a court order this November compared to 80 last year — year to date was 752 to 931.
An important category to track is drugs, said Bourassa. There were two incidents involving drugs in November compared to four last November. Year to date, those numbers were 55 and 86, respectively, for a decrease of 31, or 36 per cent.
One of the biggest reasons for the decrease is cannabis is now legal, the police chief continued. There was one marijuana charge this November compared to zero last November. Year to date, those numbers were five and 36, respectively, for a decrease of 31, or 86 per cent.
Cocaine charges were zero this November versus one last November — year to date is 11 and 11, respectively — while there were zero methamphetamine charges this November and last year, while year to date, those numbers are 20 and 23, respectively.
“We are seeing a lot of meth and cocaine around,” Bourassa remarked.
Two 14-year-olds were charged with robbery in December, said Commissioner Coun. Chris Warren. He wondered how incidents like are handled, especially when dealing with youths.
The process is the same for all investigations regardless of age, Bourassa said. However, it changes slightly when interviewing youths allegedly involved in crimes. There are more requirements the police have to follow, such as notifying the parents/guardians and informing the youths of their rights to legal counsel.
Since youths under 12 cannot be charged, social services takes the leading in handling those cases, he added.
The next meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners is Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020.
