The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on some - but not all - types of crime committed in the city, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Prince George RCMP.
In a year-over-year comparison of March 2019 and March 2020, and of April 1-22, 2020 to the same period last year, files involving shoplifting took a tumble in both timeframes.
Calls for those incidents stood at 35 for March 2020, down 35.2% from 54 for the same month last year, while the count for the April period was just nine, down 73.5% from 34 by the same point in 2019.
That came as no surprise to RCMP.
"This is to be expected considering the store closures or strictly controlled access of many businesses in the community," RCMP said in the release.
Property crime overall remained within the range of previously-reported data. There were 798 reports in March, up 17.2% from last year, and 585 for April 1-22, down 7.6%. Break and enters for both periods stood at 14, up by just one for March and down just two for the April period.
At 227 reports, offences involving violence were up 6.6% in March but, dropped 24.3% during April 1-22, and stood at 130 compared to 195 during the same three weeks in 2019.
Domestic assaults were a wash as they rose by three cases to 34 in March but declined by three cases to 30 during April 1-22.
RCMP have been busier fielding calls about suspicious circumstances and unwanted persons. Combined, they added up to 795, a jump of 225 calls or 34.5% over the entire period presented in the report.
"It is suspected that this increase is a result of more people being at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and reporting what they see," RCMP said.
RCMP refrained from drawing any firm conclusions from the numbers in general.
"Calls for service and crime statistics rise and fall on a regular basis," RCMP said. "Changes can occur for many reasons such as the arrest or release of a prolific offender, the employment rate, time of day, time of year or even a change in weather.
"The significant social changes in our community due to the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected some crime types but overall crime rates remain steady."
As for physical distancing scofflaws, RCMP said the detachment received between one and five calls a day during March 25-April 22. And instead of calling the detachment, RCMP are asking those who see someone failing to abide by a public health order to call city hall at 311, if the act was committed within city limits, or 1-888-COVID-19 (1-888-268-4319), it if occurred outside them.
