Kimberley City Council received the third quarter policing report at their regular meeting last week. The report covers the period from October to December 2020 and was presented by Sgt. Steven Woodcox, the new commanding officer at the Kimberley RCMP detachment. Woodcox came on board in November after the retirement of Sgt. Chris Newel.
Woodcox spoke to a rise in mental health calls since the pandemic began. He said these can consume a great deal of staff time. In nine of the 27 mental health calls received in the third quarter, the person was taken to Cranbrook Hospital. An officer can spend three to four hours on a call like this as they must wait for the person to either be admitted to hospital or released by a doctor.
He also spoke to a peaceful protest in the Platzl on December 15, 2020. A violation ticket was issued to the organizer of the event under the COVID-19 Related Measures Act. There have been no other incidents since that time, he said, and calls related to COVID have settled down.
There were 12 COVID related calls in the quarter, including one where a violation ticket was issued to a man refusing to wear a mask. This man was also given a verbal warning for his “abusive and belligerent behaviour”.
Other files in the quarter included:
Theft of vehicles
In October, a vehicle was stolen from within city limits and found the next morning in a parking lot, apparently used for transportation home.
In December a vehicle was taken from a home in Kimberley, the suspect was known to the owner and the vehicle was located in Alberta.
Another vehicle was stolen from a remote location in the St. Mary valley, and the plate was later found on a different stolen vehicle in Calgary. The stolen vehicle has yet to be recovered.
On October 4, a vehicle was stolen from the Cranbrook airport and crashed at the intersection of Rails to Trails and Jim Ogilvie Way.The driver is still in custody and expected to enter a guilty pleas for Drive While Prohibited and Possession of Stolen Property both over and under $5000.
Trafficking Cocaine
On November 5, 2020 a routine traffic stop resulted in seizure of $7,575, along with cocaine and meth.
Calls for service during the quarter rose to 405 from 382 in the previous year.
READ: Kimberley RCMP welcomes new detachment commander
READ: First Quarter Policing Report delivered to Kimberley City Council
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