City of Powell River councillors were recently provided a rundown of RCMP activity in the first quarter of 2024.
Speaking at the April 16 committee of the whole meeting, staff sergeant Rod Wiebe provided his quarterly update. In the first quarter of 2024, Powell River RCMP responded to 1,501 calls, representing a 3.2 per cent increase over the same quarter last year, said Wiebe.
Non-criminal calls and checks for well-being continue to rise, and in the first quarter, they were up 38 per cent, according to Wiebe, but mental health calls were basically unchanged. Common assaults were up five per cent, sexual offences were down 50 per cent and harassment complaints were down 33 per cent, said Wiebe.
Property crime was down 1.6 per cent but bike thefts are up 200 per cent, representing six reports this quarter, compared to two in 2023, said Wiebe. Residential break and enters are up 54 per cent, he added.
“Other than that, you can see there is quite a decrease in property crime in the other areas,” said Wiebe.
Drug offences are down 50 per cent, drug trafficking reports are at zero and weapons offenses were unchanged at six reports for the quarter, said Wiebe.
In terms of staffing, Wiebe said there are 23 members on the road right now, with four hard vacancies, for officers who have been transferred out, and four soft vacancies, for members who are on disability or family leave. Wiebe said he is hoping that as the year goes on, the RCMP training academy is going to start sending members out into the field.
Some of the community programs the local RCMP detachment took part in over the quarter include Don’t Hug Doug, which was presented by the community liaison officer, into elementary schools, talking about body autonomy and consent.
“It was a huge success,” said Wiebe.
There was also a fraud awareness series at the Gerry Gray Centre in March, targeting seniors and providing them some fraud prevention tips. There were also presentations for inclusion Powell River clients, with home and personal safety talks.
Wiebe outlined the situation table program, which involved a successful grant application. He said it hasn’t started yet but it is in the infancy of getting going. He said the program is going to help frontline workers identify vulnerable people, and will provide benefits such as long-term reduction in demand for emergency service for first responders, and increase vulnerable people’s use of the services.
“We’re holding out great hopes for this program,” said Wiebe.
Body cameras
He then mentioned body-worn cameras. He said the successful vendor is Axon and there will be rollouts to the RCMP division in fall of 2024.
“I can’t predict when that is going to roll out to the actual detachments,” said Wiebe. “My guess is winter 2025. The pricing still hasn’t been decided but the last ballpark figure they are looking at is $3,000 per camera. Every frontline member will have one. They haven’t indicated where that cost is coming from, but I will keep you updated on that.”
Wiebe said the RCMP is also rolling out a new version of its taser. He said they are all onsite and the detachment is awaiting training so members can be certified in the use of the devices.
Regarding the collective agreement, the arbitrator has ruled that the 2023 increase in pay will be four per cent, four per cent in 2024, plus a $2,500 pensionable bonus, said Wiebe.
City councillor Cindy Elliott asked if there was an increase in people driving without insurance now that ICBC does not issue stickers every year with insurance renewal. Wiebe said he did not have a statistic about whether there is an increase in people driving without insurance, but RCMP are stopping a lot of people without insurance.
“Without the sticker to alert the normally law-abiding citizen, sometimes they realize later that they are driving without insurance,” said Wiebe. “I think it’s on the rise, but that’s my personal opinion.
“We do need automatic licence plate readers, but when ICBC rolled this out, they went to traffic sections only, which we do not have. Those readers are between $17,000 and $20,000 apiece and they are not foolproof, so I would not recommend the city purchasing any.”
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