By Brent Bosker
paNOW Staff
The 2010 crime stats (available here) are out and the numbers show increases across the board. However the numbers don’t always tell the whole story said the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS).
“The number on the page is one thing, but what it means takes some research,” said deputy chief Troy Cooper.
Crimes against people, property and controlled drugs and substances all increased last year when compared to figures from 2009.
The one that jumped off the page was our robberies, said Cooper, which spiked 23 per cent.
When we reviewed our robbery files we found most to be minor in nature, Cooper said.
“They were theft of bikes, cigarettes and small amounts of money. Generally they were crimes of opportunity that occurred when groups of kids got together.”
We’ve now addressed that area for 2011 by reallocating our resources to be more visible and proactive, he said.
Cooper said the numbers also reveal some positives, pointing to the number of traffic violation charges laid. Although, the number of vehicle inspection and suspensions handed out increased nearly 19 per cent, he said it was a result of more enforcement.
We’re proud of that, said Cooper. “The work that we did there was able to keep our streets a little safer and a have a few less accidents.”
The number of prostitution reports fell off 63 per cent, but weapons charges and sexual assaults were up 21 and 25 per cent respectively.
Cooper drew the correlation of crime in the city to an increase in youth.
“An increase in youth means increase in the age group that is most likely to commit or be a victim of crime.”
“The largest age group in the city is those between the ages of 15 and 24 and our programing is geared toward that demographic,” Cooper said.
Cooper said the causes of crime are the same across Canada, however it’s more prevalent in Prince Albert.
“We have quite a large component of our city that lives below the poverty line and addiction has always been a real issue and something we’ve always struggled with in our community.”
PAPS is developing a strategy with social groups to address the root causes of crime. The plan is modeled after a successful one used in Glasgow, Scotland.
bbosker@panow.com
