RCMP sees increase in calls for service in 2017
By Timothy Schafer
Grand Forks RCMP responded to a increase in calls for services during the past year said Sgt. Jim Fenske.
He said calls for service increased from 3,000 (2016) to 3,353 (2017). Of these calls for service:
- 168 were false/abandoned 911 calls
- 216 were false alarms
- 93 were animal calls
- 292 were traffic calls
Criminal Code offences were up seven per cent from 2016 (188 to 201 instances).
Violent crime was down 16 per cent from 2016 (37 to 31 instances).
In 2016 Grand Forks RCMP responded to 14 human deaths, while in 2017the detachment responded to 31 human deaths.
“Most of this increase is related to the opiate crisis,” said Sgt. Fenske.
In 2016 161 files were scored as Mental Health Act. In 2017 179 fileswere scored as Mental Health Act.
“This does not include files where there was a mental health componentto the investigation,” said Sgt. Fenske. He noted that approximately 20 per cent of all files in Grand Forks have a mental health component.
In 2017 members of the Grand Forks RCMP administered naloxone to three people to prevent death by drug overdose, said Sgt. Fenske.
“Because of a change in response to complaints where an overdose is suspected I do not have any naloxone data from BC Ambulance service,” he told city council.
In 2017 the 12 most prolific offenders were directly linked to over380 calls for service, accounting for 14 per cent of the detachment’s files.
“This does not include investigations in which we suspect they arelinked, these are investigations in which we know they are linked,” said Sgt. Fenske.
“Of note, almost all of these offenders spent time in jail in 2017, all were arrested at least once and most were arrested on multiple occasions.”
Of these 12 offenders, three are currently incarcerated, one is notallowed in Grand Forks for the next 20 years, one has passed on and all remaining offenders are on release conditions and have pending charges before the courts.
