Crime is creeping upwards in the Drayton Valley region.
At Drayton Valley’s March 23 town council meeting, council received monthly crime statistics from the Drayton Valley RCMP detachment.
According to RCMP, there has been a four per cent increase in criminal code offences in January and February of 2022, when compared to the same time period in 2021.
RCMP Corporal Ryan Hoetmer delivered the report, and offered up some theories behind the rise.
Persons crimes are up by 32 per cent. Hoetmer pointed out that is mainly harassment and domestic, having to do with people just not reaching out to each other.
Hoetmer also highlighted a rise in motor vehicle thefts. However, once RCMP tracked the suspect down and got them off the streets, motor vehicle thefts dropped.
There was also a 32 per cent increase in other criminal code charges. Hoetmer expanded to say that most of those had to do with calls along the lines of disturbing the peace, mainly settling disputes at the bars.
“I drive in in the morning at 6:40, and there are vehicles like crazy everywhere,” elaborated Hoetmer. “Talking to the guys who work night shift, and they have not seen it this busy at 1, 2 a.m. in a long time.”
Hoetmer theorized those numbers will continue going up, as more people start coming to town for work.
This led council to ask if the Drayton RCMP are equipped to handle sudden influxes of people. Hoetmer was unconcerned.
“It is things like a drunk guy showing up at the wrong hotel, and the hotel calls us, and we have to figure out what hotel he is supposed to be at,” offered Hoetmer as an example. “It is not super in-depth. It is just the number of calls, and you see the stats come up.”
Comments