The Estevan Police Service (EPS) remained busy in 2020, with a four per cent increase in calls for service.
Figures released at Tuesday’s meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners showed that the EPS had 8,941 calls and infractions in 2020, up from 8,601 the previous year.
“I thought they might actually go down a little bit, with COVID and things being a little bit quieter, and more people at home,” said Police Chief Paul Ladouceur.
The EPS saw a 13 per cent increase in the crimes against the person, from 128 to 145 in 2020.
“I’m suspecting that some of the increase, when it comes to violence in the community, is we’re also seeing a correlation with meth coming into our city,” said Ladoucuer. “There’s some concern there, when we’re seeing some meth coming into the community like we are, and we’re certainly making that a priority as we move into 2021.”
Assaults inched up from 106 to 109, sexual crimes increased from 11 to 18, and assaults causing bodily harm doubled, going from nine to 18.
There was an 11 per cent increase in crimes against property, from 320 to 365. Ladouceur said one of the biggest issues was mischief and willful damage, which soared from 131 in 2019 to 186 in 2020.
“If you recall, we had a lot of graffiti towards the end of 2020,” said Ladouceur.
An individual was arrested in early 2021, and charged with nine counts of vandalism for graffiti. But those charges were for incidents that occurred early this year. The incidents remain under investigation, and the EPS believes the person charged is responsible for incidents that occurred in 2020. It is a large file, Ladouceur said.
“Sometimes it’s one individual or two individuals who can drive the numbers up.”
Ladouceur said it was a nuisance for people to see their garage doors or other property vandalized, and local residents were annoyed to see signs around town spray-painted.
Theft under $5,000 complaints dropped from 132 to 115.
There was a nine per cent increase in Controlled Drugs and Substances Act charges, from 47 to 51, but trafficking charges were down nine per cent from 19 to 17.
Drug possession charges jumped 21 per cent from 28 to 34. Ladouceur believes meth possession is the biggest reason for more possession charges.
“We also know all too well that meth is a very unpredictable drug that often correlates with a lot of spinoff. It’s highly, highly addictive, a highly unpredictable reaction to the drug, and that’s why we have such a concern with it coming into the community.”
The opening of the Addictions Treatment Centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital late last year should help those fighting methamphetamine addictions.
“I think we really have to start looking at a harm reduction approach to this,” said Ladouceur.
When he started in policing, Ladouceur thought they should lock up everyone caught in possession of illegal drugs. His attitude has changed, as he now views drug abuse as a health crisis or a mental health issue.
“We have to start getting these people on the right path, we need start looking at the root causes, and what they need to get on the right path. Otherwise, we’re just a revolving door. We’re going to arrest them on Friday night, and we’re going to arrest them again the following Friday night.”
Ladouceur was pleased to report that Criminal Code Traffic Violations were down 29 per cent, from 161 to 114. There were 89 charges for impaired and exceed-related offences, down 29 per cent from 126 the previous year. And there were 14 charges for driving while impaired by drug, down from 24 in 2019.
Eleven charges were issued for dangerous driving, the same as 2019.
There weren’t any charges under the Cannabis Act.
The EPS continues to receive a lot of calls about distracted driving, which is a leading cause of serious accidents and fatalities in the province. And they also continue to respond to a lot of mental health calls. A lot of those calls can be attributed to COVID-19.
“This pandemic has put a lot of stress on people. We’re all dealing with this … and it’s that COVID fatigue.”
The EPS receives a lot of mental health calls over the course of the year, but they usually don’t mention them within their reports. And he expects the EPS will continue to encounter those calls in 2021.
