Overall, most crimes in Powell River continued to decline last year.
In the annual policing report to City of Powell River’s committee of the whole on February 14, RCMP staff sergeant Rod Wiebe said police responded to 5,420 complaints in 2017, representing a three per cent decrease from 2016, which follows a downward trend since 2012.
However, the decline is offset by overall crime severity, which is an index introduced by Statistics Canada in 2009. Last year, the index rose six per cent.
“Crime severity has been going up for the last couple of years, but it’s still not as high as it was in 2012,” said Wiebe.
Offences used by RCMP as a barometer for tracking criminal activity in 2017 include break and entries, up five per cent; theft under $5,000, down 25 per cent; overall property crime in all areas, down eight per cent; violent crime, up three per cent; and criminal code impaired driving, which is unchanged from 2016.
“I wasn't expecting such a decrease in the theft under $5,000 category, but it's a good example of how crime sprees can really skew your numbers,” said Wiebe. “In 2016, we had a rash of theft from vehicles and this year it’s correcting itself.”
A recent report showing Powell River as having the second-largest overdose death rate in the Vancouver Coastal Health region is also reflected in the policing report.
“Our trafficking investigations and charges are up 63 per cent, which is our efforts toward the opioid crisis in town,” said Wiebe. “We had eight seizures of heroin and seven tested positive for fentanyl, so we certainly have a problem here.”
RCMP continues to be involved in the community and last year the detachment put in more than 150 “red serge” volunteer hours, according to Wiebe.
“We're out there as much as we can,” said Wiebe. “It's important that people get to know the officers and that we are part of the community.”
Many residents, including newcomers, see Powell River as a safe community to live in and Wiebe said that is not a false perception.
“It's still one of the safest communities I've ever policed and it continues to be so,” said Wiebe. “We certainly have our blips and our big-city crime that rears its head every once in a while, but that could be said for any town.”
