The Estevan Police Service saw a decline in calls for service in May compared with the previous year, but overall call volumes for the year are still up.
According to numbers released at the June 27 police board meeting, the EPS received 687 calls for service in May, down from the 929 they received in May 2017. But the EPS had 3,296 calls for the first five months of the year, up two per cent from the 3,217 they had from January to May in 2017.
The EPS had 16 crimes against the person reported in May, with 13 assaults and three sexual crimes. There were 15 such calls in May 2017. In the first five months of the year, there were 58 crimes against the person, with 46 assaults, 11 sexual crimes and one assault causing bodily harm.
The EPS had 26 crimes against property in May, compared to 24 the previous year. The EPS received 14 thefts under $5,000, nine complaints of mischief or willful damage, two thefts over $5,000 and one residential break and enter. The EPS has had 116 crimes against property in the first five months of the year, compared to 129 from January to May in 2017.
As for Controlled Drugs and Substances Act violations, the EPS issued six charges in May, all for possession. In May 2017, they had seven for trafficking and four for possession. So far this year, the EPS has had 34 charges, with 32 for possession and two for trafficking. There were 48 a year earlier.
Nineteen Criminal Code traffic violations were issued in May, with 17 for impaired driving and two for dangerous driving. A year earlier, there were 12, all for impaired driving.
“We’re still seeing a spike in the impaireds, and that’s, I’m still assuming, because of the extra attention paid,” said police Chief Paul Ladouceur.
So far this year, there have been 71 Criminal Code driving charges, with 68 for impaired driving and three for dangerous driving. The EPS had 59 for the first five months of 2017.
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The report from special Const. Josie Newton, who is the city’s bylaw enforcement officer, showed that she responded to 108 incidents and occurrences. Unkempt property inspections accounted for the largest share of her activity with 41. She also handled 13 parking violations.
So far this year, Newton has had 414 occurrences, with 111 parking violations and 89 parking complaints accounting for the largest share of her workload.
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Work continues on the new EPS website. The final remaining task before trying a live run is to install a plugin, so that a Filipino translation is in place. Once that is finished, Ladouceur said it should be good to go.
