Crimes throughout the Boundary area saw a 19-per-cent decrease from 2010 to 2011.
According to the 2012 Report on Policing: Boundary Regional Detachment, the most notable decreases were residential break and entry, down by 56 per cent, and business break and entry down by 64 per cent.
This is followed by thefts under $5,000, down by 24 per cent, and causing a disturbance down by 29 per cent.
“Besides working on crime reduction initiatives, we’re trying to involve the public and community as much as we can,” Grand Forks RCMP’s Staff Sgt. Jim Harrison told The Gazette. “Two community programs we have are Citizens on Patrol and City Watch, where we have people who care about the community providing a great service to the rest of the community.”
Harrison noted that factors that contributed to the decrease in crime have to do with the RCMP’s concentrated efforts made to target known prolific offenders, which led to successful prosecution.
There was also the detention of several known offenders and the adoption of Intelligence which allowed RCMP to concentrate the resources on crime reduction to a level previously unattainable.
In the City of Grand Forks, all types of crimes have decreased from assaults (from 56 to 41 in 2011) to break and enter (from 46 to 36). Theft from a vehicle saw the only increase, from 34 to 35.
Grand Forks Rural (Area D) saw an increase in break and enters, from 12 to 18, but everything else saw a decrease or remained the same.
In Christina Lake, there was one more reported willful damage (from 17 to 18) and assault (from three to four) than the previous year, but otherwise reported types of crime saw a decrease.
Greenwood saw an increase in assaults (from five to six) and sexual offences (from zero to one), as well as other thefts (from 15 to 17). Midway’s rate saw a decrease or remained the same across the board.
“We’re going after people for breaches of probation, breaches of conditional sentences orders and breaches of bail release conditions, as well as what we call our prolific offenders,” Harrison stated. “Those people represent the 20 per cent of our criminals who are doing 80 per cent of the crime.”
Mayor Brian Taylor was pleased to hear the results and efforts of community involvement.
“I appreciate the leadership role that (Harrison) plays in the community and I think that can be seen in the success of the crime rates down,” Taylor said, during the last city council meeting.
Councillors at the city council meeting all agreed, including Coun. Cher Wyers.
“You and the RCMP have done excellent work in our community and we’re quite blessed to have you here,” she said.
However, Harrison noted that the lack of easily accessible services for addictions and substance abuse and mental health treatment is a concern in the communities.
According to the report, it noted that many cases see people dealt with in the criminal justice system that would be better served in the health system.
“We know the lack of health facilities has the potential to cause some issues for us, and it will most likely translate into street level drug trafficking and thefts of drugs, but we haven’t seen that yet. Obviously we’ll be looking at this one closely,” Harrison said.
Taylor added, “In terms of our advocacy work in our community, if we can improve our mental health services towards substance abuse, it would make our RCMP much happier with the job they face in the community.”
Boundary Regional Detachment also saw reserve constable Christ Cottrill deployed to Christina Lake in July and August last summer, with the assistance and funding granted from the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB).
RDKB Area C Director Grace McGregor worked with Harrison to make the summer program plausible again. Last summer, over 158 files were generated for vessel checks and infractions.
Since the program has started two years ago, there has been no fatalities.
Some initiatives that are currently in operation and in progress include the Citizens on Patrol program in Grand Forks, Midway, Greenwood and Christina Lake, restorative justice, prolific offender program (which includes participation of external agencies and services), and small vessel regulation enforcement at Christina Lake.
For 2012, the Boundary Regional Detachment aims to continue its efforts on border enforcement and intelligence, identifying and prosecuting methamphetamine and cocaine dealers and target known prolific offenders.
The Boundary Regional Detachment has two offices in the region, one in Grand Forks and one in Midway.
Grand Forks RCMP covers from the middle of the Paulson Bridge to just past Eholt summit, while the Midway RCMP covers from Eholt summit and Greenwood, to Beaverdell, just before Bridesville.
Total estimated population in the service area was 12,165 in 2011, though there are usually larger numbers during summer months in the Christina Lake area.