At the latest Board of Police Commissioners meeting statistics for the first quarter were discussed. While they saw an overall decrease in most areas there were a few exceptions.  

Crimes against people saw a 16 per cent decrease this year compared to last year, dropping from 44 to 37 in the first quarter.  

Crimes involving property were up from 59 violations the previous year to 105 this year. This was driven by theft under $5000, which went from 27 in 2023 to 51 in 2024, making a 89 per cent increase.  

“I’m happy to say we made an arrest which should have an impact on those numbers,” said Cheif Rich Lowen.  

The number of thefts of motor vehicles was also noted as it appeared to have increased 1100 per cent. However, the actual number was just 3 this year compared to zero last year. 

“We did look at the vehicles that were outstanding, a lot of them are taking auto without owners' consent,” said Lowen. 

He added that there is no indication that it is a similar trend to the problems they are having in some other communities.  

Controlled drug and substance violations were down 35 per cent compared to last year.  

While Criminal Code Traffic violations were also 20 per cent compared to last year, drug impairment violations were up 75 per cent increasing from 4 last year to 7 this year.  

Urgent calls for service were also down this year compared to last. They went from 1803 in the first quarter of last year to 1624 this year marking a 10 per cent decrease.  

During the meeting it was also noted that the by-law officer has moved to work out of the fire department, rather than the police department. The move came as the by-law officer works with the fire department in terms of  

“A lot of what they do interconnects, like with the fire inspections and that, it kind of fits in with the bylaw and a lot of the infractions that we have. So, we thought it would be a better fit and I think we'll find that it works out,” said Mayor Roy Ludwig.