RCMP reports they saw a decrease in service calls between 2023 and 2024 in the Lake City.
That is according to the report given by RCMP Inspector Robert Lake in Tuesday’s April 1, Williams Lake City Council Meeting.
The police received 10204 calls for service from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024. This was a 362 decrease in calls compared to the 2023 report.
Lake said 71 per cent of calls were within the city limits, with 29 per cent in the rural areas of Williams Lake’s jurisdiction.
The Inspector’s report highlighted other crime trends to the council.
Assaults with a Weapon or Causing Bodily Harm have decreased by 7.87 per cent. Dropping to 82 in 2024 from 89 in 2023. However, general Assault offences increased by almost 6 per cent, with 285 reported offences in 2024 from 269 offences in 2023.
Lake’s council report showed two larger increases in Controlled Drugs and Substances Act offences and break and enters in Williams Lake.
The RCMP’s report shows drug trafficking offences increased from 47 in 2023 to 61 in 2024, a 29.7 per cent increase. Drug possession offences also saw an increase of 4.1 per cent in 2024.
Impaired driving offences also increased by 41 per cent.
Lake says the increases are coming from reduction strategies brought down at the senior management level.
“One of those crime reduction strategies is targeted enforcement of controlled drugs and substances, and targeting impaired drivers or drivers who are driving impudently,” says Lake.
“That’s where you’re seeing a large increase in those numbers. We want to see those numbers go down, and we’re going to continue that strategy this year.”
The RCMP reports a decrease in Thefts from Motor Vehicles by 59.4 per cent, with 73 offences in 2024 compared to 180 offences in 2023.
Property offences saw a decrease between 2024 and 2023. Break and enters on businesses dropped nearly 25 per cent, from 82 offences called in 2023 to 62 offences in 2024.
However, there was an increase in break and enters to residences by 44 per cent. An increase that gives Lake concern.
“This is something that is definitely on our radar, and I will be focusing on how we can target that for the next annual performance plan.”
Councillor Scott Nelson only had one question for Inspector Lake concerning how many “prolific offenders” are currently in Williams Lake outfitted with GPS tracking.
Lake said the local RCMP detachment does not have those numbers, Corrections Canada is responsible for that data.
Neslon requested that Lake have that data for next year’s report.
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