An RCMP report before city council earmarked traffic offences, chronic offenders and domestic violence as key priorities for next year.
Superintendent Warren Brown’s presentation Monday showed a sharp dip in break and enters and assaults in the first five months of this year, compared to the two years previous. This year shows 195 break-ins compared to 269 the year before and 319 assaults, down more than 40 from the year before and following a dropping trend from the high of 403 in 2014.
While Brown said this year’s numbers for break and enters is better “it’s an unacceptable number”
Prince George has seen an increase in thefts this year. January to May had 945 files compared to 820 in 2014. Sexual assaults were up slightly from last year at 26 between January and May compared to 18 in 2015 over the same period, down from 2014, when there were 36 in the same time frame.
The new domestic violence approach involve a safety plan for families and following up with offenders, Brown said.
“We’re going to focus more on wrap-around care,” with the same organizations, he said.
Much of police resources are used on those who have mental illness and addictions, who are often chronic offenders.
But one area has continually become a problem over the years: within about 200 metres of the court house, the police have responded to an incredibly high number of calls.
Between 2011 and 2015, calls increased by 22 per cent. On average, police respond to more than 1,581 calls per year to that area alone. Brown said some of that increase in numbers could be because of a greater police presence in the area.
That’s also where vulnerable populations access services, he said.
“It’s a place to socialize and recreate, and we understand that, however we also see a very high amount of drug use,” he said, noting many discarded needles are found in the area.
“This has really become a challenging problem,” Brown says, adding it can’t be ignored given the high number of complaints from businesses and pedestrians
Coun. Brian Skakun compared the area to East Hastings in Vancouver.
“It’s terrible.”
Skakun asked, with many businesses having their own surveillance systems, would it be possible to increase surveillance of the area.
“That is controversial,” Brown replied, referencing privacy laws, but said in some cases it would have legal authority to implement.
Brown asked for patience, noting business owners are fed up and frustrated, but police are working on proactive policing.
Prince George’s demographic is unique, Brown said, pointing to the health and social services in the downtown as well as an over representation of aboriginal people.
We are fooling ourselves if we think simply locking up bikes will do the trick, Brown said, saying instead police need to get to the root cause.
“This is about harm reduction.”
