Prince Albert Police Chief Jon Bergen discusses the city's crime stats during Thursday's Board of Police Commissioners meeting. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Community safety

Property crime continues to trend upward in 2021

Sep 23, 2021 | 2:06 PM

Prince Albert’s Chief of Police said the launch of a proactive policing unit in January will help address concerns in the city related to property crime.

Jon Bergen’s comment comes in response to the city’s most recent crime statistics, which were discussed during Thursday’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting.

Year-to-date there have been 2,339 incidents reported related to property crime. While on par with the five-year average, it still represents a 37.99 per cent increase over 2020. Bergen cautioned last year was an unusual year.

“Our police response was different in the community. We had businesses closed. There was money available that wasn’t available in other years and so we saw different trends,” he said.

The top five property crimes this year are wilful damage, theft under $5,000, shoplifting, theft from vehicle and theft of motor vehicles. There have been 320 reports of break-and-enters.

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While explaining this area was a big concern for the city’s police service and one of the main reasons why the city’s crime severity index is so high, Bergen also explained a large number of break and enters are occurring at vacant properties, where people are simply looking for a place to go and sleep.

“We know that property crime is caused by poverty and addictions and mental health issues,” he said. “Those who don’t have, take.”

Ward 3 Councillor Tony Head was in attendance during Thursday’s meeting and explained he was there on behalf of residents in his ward who are feeling frustrated.

“Are we getting enough support from police? Are we policing the back alleys or at the very least stopping some of the foot traffic?” he asked.

Bergen assured Head that police do monitor the neighbourhood watch pages on Facebook and added he had plans to meet in the future with the respective moderators.

(NIgel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Stolen vehicles

To date in 2021, there has been a 58.8 per cent increase in reported vehicle thefts for Prince Albert. The actual number of 251 compares to 158 in 2020.

During Thursday’s meeting, Ward 1 Councillor Charlene Miller gave an example of a resident she had spoken to whose car was found stripped and painted. While he could not comment on that specific incident, Bergen said there has been an ongoing trend for a number of years involving stolen vehicles.

“One of the challenges our investigators deal with when responding to stolen vehicles is we don’t pursue that vehicle and that person who is occupying the stolen vehicle is not likely to stop for police,” Bergen said.

The majority of stolen vehicles have been recovered but a concern raised by Ward 6 Councillor Blake Edwards had to do with the number of vehicles recovered from outside the city (57) and asked if the city could approach one specific northern community.

“There are times when it’s the same people responsible for stealing vehicles and fleeing from police and so where that person is likely to reside or return to, is where we will find the vehicle,” Bergen replied.

Mayor Greg Dionne said he had already spoken with the respective Chief and Council and mentioned a willingness on their part to meet and work together to solve the problem.

The new unit

The new unit will be comprised of a Sergeant and three constables who are currently completing their police training.

Last April, Prince Albert City Council approved a new tax to fund up to four additional police officers.

The $35 annual base tax will be applied to all properties in the city. Multi-unit residential properties would be charged per unit. The tax is expected to generate $554,505 in 2021.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell