Incidents of violent crime, drug possession, property crime and theft from vehicles have all declined during the first four months of 2020.
Mission RCMP’s officer in charge, Insp. Stephen Corp, presented those statistics to council on Tuesday evening.
In his report, Corp said the first four months of 2020 have been filled with “unprecedented challenges” which affected the way the police had to conduct business.
“In spite of the many challenges posed by COVID-19 and corresponding provincial health orders, the men and women of the Mission RCMP have really dug in and stepped up in finding new ways to interact with our partners and clients so that the residents and businesses remain safe during this uncertain time,” he said in the report.
According to the statistics, which compare January to April 2020 with the same period in 2019, total violent crimes were down 11 per cent (265 calls in 2019 compared to 237 in 2020). However, incidents of spousal violence rose by eight per cent, with 26 calls in the first four months of 2020, compared to 24 in 2019.
Drug possession incidents were down 28 per cent (43 so far this year compared to 60 in 2019) while drug trafficking was up 22 per cent (28 so far compared to 23 in 2019).
Total property crime incidents dropped by 12 per cent (639 so far in 2020 compared to 723 during the same period in 2019).
Business break-ins were down 13 per cent, residential break-ins were up 14 per cent and other break-ins (such as sheds and other outbuildings) dropped by 41 per cent.
Auto thefts rose by 26 per cent (53 in 2010 and 42 in 2019), while theft from autos dropped 41 per cent (109 so far this year compared to 185 in 2019).
Traffic stats show that seatbelt violations dropped from 50 in 2019 to five so far this year, while speeding tickets are about the same with 382 in 2020 and 376 in 2019.
