For the second month in a row, Battlefords RCMP detachment is reporting declines in several crime categories in the city.
In numbers presented to North Battleford city council by Staff Sgt. Phil Wilson of Battlefords RCMP, several declines were registered in May 2012, compared to the same month in 2011.
The declines are in the following categories: person offences (down to 81 from 91), business break and enters (from seven to three), residential break and enters (from 11 to four), property offences (from 244 to 178), criminal code offences (from 217 to 128), liquor acts (from 47 to 23), and impaired operation of a motor vehicle (from 35 to 32).
Drug offences in May remained higher than the year before, up from 18 to 38. Provincial traffic offences also rose from 110 in May 2011 to 178 in May 2012. Motor vehicle collisions were up slightly from the same month in 2011, up from 26 to 28.
There were 62 false alarms recorded in May and 87 calls for assistance.
Overall there were 1,035 calls for service in May, down from 1,340 the previous May 2011. For the year so far through May there have been 6,111 calls for service, slightly ahead of the 6,077 recorded for the first five months of 2011.
May was the second month in a row with declines seen in several crime categories in the Battlefords. The numbers also contributed to a general improvement seen in the overall numbers for the year so far in the city.
Person offences are up 30 per cent for the year, but business break and enters are now unchanged from 2011. Residential break and enters and now down 19 per cent, property offences up four perc ent for the year, criminal code offences down three per cent, and liquor acts down 34 per cent.
Wilson noted the 30-per cent persons crimes jump for the year is a cause for concern but does says the clearance rate for those are 100 per cent - that is, people are being charged and are going to court.
Provincial traffic offences remain up 46 per cent for the year and drug offences are up 131 per cent for the year as well, with Wilson pointing to stepped-up enforcement in those areas.
