By Derek Cornet

La Ronge RCMP report falling crime stats at town hall meeting

Nov 16, 2018 | 11:00 AM

The La Ronge RCMP weren’t shy to answer questions at a town hall meeting held Nov. 15, which was attended by about 40 residents from the tri-communities.

“There was a lot of good, tough questions,” Staff Sgt. Kyle Watson said. “I was pleasantly surprised. Overall, it was quite good, but I would have liked to see a bigger turnout.”

The meeting occurred at the Kikinahk Friendship Centre in La Ronge and some the information shared was about how crime is falling overall in the region. According to 2017 and 2018 January to June statistics from the La Ronge RCMP, there’s been a 72 per cent decrease in drug trafficking offenses, a 51 per cent drop in break and enters, a 45 per cent drop in robberies, a 43 per cent drop in harassment/uttering threats and a 37 per cent drop in fraud. The number of Youth Criminal Justice Act offenses have also decreased significantly by 72 per cent with 36 in 2017 and 10 by June 2018.

While offenses are down in the last year, crime has generally increased between 2013 and 2017. The data shows a 175 per cent increase in robberies, a 94 per cent increase in fraud, a 44 per cent increase in harassment/uttering threats and a 41 per cent increase in break-and-enters. While assaults are down 10 per cent when comparing 2017 and 2018, between 2013 and 2017, assaults are up 33 per cent. Watson contributes the recent decrease in crime to a number of factors.

“Before a person commits a crime now, we’re starting to identify the people,” he said. “We’re doing that at the Hub level and we’re getting good results that way. We’re actually getting people the help they need and preventing crime before it happens.”

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He also noted Community Program Officer Alex Turcotte has been doing a lot of work with local schools, as well as with Hub. She plays a role in intervening when someone displays risky behaviour and works proactively to find solutions. Watson added officers have also been spending more time with cases in the General Investigation Section, which focuses on drugs, gang activity and intervention work.

Attendees also learned the RCMP detachment is only short one member, who should be coming to La Ronge in December. Watson also advised the public to never be afraid to call 911 if they see a person or group of people who are deemed to be suspicious.

“I went them to call 911,” he said. “Please call 911. If you see suspicious people walking downtown and around, there’s nothing wrong with calling 911 to let them know, so we can go see what’s going on.”

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno