Members of the Powell River RCMP detachment have been making presentations to organizations and groups over the past month, gathering ideas on what initiatives the community would like to see them undertake.
Through consultation last year, the detachment identified four initiatives: traffic; youth; crime reduction; and aboriginal policing.
This year Staff Sergeant Andy Brinton and Sergeant Rod Wiebe are consulting with a number of groups, providing a picture of crime activity in the community and asking what residents would like them to focus on this year.
“Our bread and butter is obviously responding to calls, 911 and that type of thing,” said Brinton. The initiatives help focus attention on those areas when the detachment has the opportunity to be pro-active, he added.
There was a coordinator in the office last year who looked at traffic statistics, accident locations and calls for service related to traffic. With that information, the detachment developed a quarterly project, which combined public education with enforcement.
Compared to other areas in the province, Powell River doesn’t have a problem with youth crime, Brinton said. “We spend a lot of time maintaining our relationship with youth,” he said. “We have a school liaison member in each school who gets to know the student body and runs a few programs.”
Under crime reduction, a committee looks at statistics and targets a type of crime, an activity, a location or even subjects who are active in the community. The focus led to the seizure of assets of crime in the spring and the arrest of an individual in the fall who was responsible for a number of break and enters.
Under aboriginal policing, there is one full-time member who is a Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation liaison. “We’ve gone from driving through the community and having blinds closing and kids running into houses to kids coming up to the police cars, not letting the officer drive through without flagging him down,” said Brinton. “He plays hockey with these kids every Thursday night at their gym. It’s been very successful.”
Based on what the RCMP is hearing from the community, the detachment will likely focus on the same areas in 2013, Brinton said.
Overall, Powell River’s crime statistics are low, compared to other communities. For example, in 2012, there were 90 residential break and enters in the City of Powell River and the rural areas of Powell River Regional District, compared to 98 in 2011. The number of break and enters provides a window into the sense of community safety. “When we get a couple of break and enters reported in a week, it’s kind of a big deal for us,” said Brinton. “There are some communities where it’s daily.”
One area the detachment will be looking at is theft from vehicles, which increased from a total of 87 in 2011 to 103 in 2012. “A lot of that was unsecured vehicles,” Brinton said. “We don’t have a lot of smashed windows, but we do have people trying maybe 100 cars a night and finding four or five unlocked.”
Powell River Crime
Crime Type Powell River City Powell River Rural Total
2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
Impaired Driving 112 116 53 36 165 152
24-hour suspension/IRP 69 67 15 32 84 99
MVI-Injury 25 31 21 15 46 46
MVI-Property 56 64 29 39 85 103
Traffic Tickets 236 169 101 92 337 261
Traffic Warnings 1,308 914 370 228 1,678 1,142
Total Contacts 1,544 1,083 471 320 2,015 1,403
B&E Business 21 29 5 4 26 33
B&E Residential 75 70 23 20 98 90
B&E Total 108 107 38 29 146 136
Theft Auto 31 27 12 8 43 35
Theft from Auto 68 89 19 14 87 103
Theft Under 325 309 80 68 405 377
Mischief 243 340 119 110 362 450
Assaults 174 161 78 83 252 244
Drugs All 146 130 83 70 229 200
Liquor Act 189 145 27 33 216 178
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