Quarterly crime stats in Picture Butte suggest crime is down

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Sunny South News

By Erika Mathieu
Sunny South News

RCMP Staff Sergeant of the Coaldale and Picture Butte RCMP detachments, Mike Numan gave a delegation to Picture Butte town council  during the Sept. 11 meeting.

“As far as statistics go, (for) this part of the detachment and surrounding area, the numbers are very low,” Numan said.

Numan said the data shows, “either crime is down, or people aren’t reporting it still,” and added, “I honestly think crime is decreasing here, which is good.” However, he clarified that the report includes statistics which cover the entire detachment area and are not specific to the town of Picture Butte.

However, Numan said  activity in the first eight months of 2023 has resulted in the creation of 255 files involving Picture Butte, including various crimes, traffic violations, and other incidents and offences. Highlights include 16 traffic collisions, 40 provincial traffic offences, as well as five mental health-related calls, and 34 non-moving traffic-related tickets.

Numan mentioned that the most frequent crime category remains assaults.

“We find that domestic assault is quite common,” he said, emphasizing that charges must be laid in those cases, regardless of the victim’s decision.

“Often, the victims don’t want to proceed for different reasons, so this takes the decision out of their hands.”

There were also 10 mischief calls.

Additionally, there were 10 well-being checks performed. Numan explained that with the elderly population, it is not uncommon to conduct wellness checks with EMS if the detachment receives a concerning call.

“Overall, things are trending down for the most part.”

Numan mentioned a brand new detachment support service now operating out of the PB detachment. He stated that officers will continue to work out of the office in town, although there are currently no support staff working at the local detachment.

Numan said although statistics indicate a decline, only reported crimes and incidents can be reflected in this data, and continues to encourage residents to report crimes on the non-emergency line or through the Alberta RCMP App, through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at http://www. P3Tips.com , or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.