Rural crime in the communities outside of Airdrie is creeping upwards after two years of COVID-caused declines, according to Airdrie Rural RCMP.
Airdrie and Beiseker RCMP hosted a rural-focused town hall on Jan. 30, inviting residents of Rocky View County, Irricana, Beiseker, Crossfield, and those municipalities' surrounding communities to Rocky View County Hall for a presentation on the detachments' rural policing activities and priorities for the upcoming year. The town hall included representatives from Airdrie and Beiseker RCMP's Rural Integrated Unit, as well as Rocky View County Enforcement Services.
During the presentation, Airdrie RCMP District Commander Insp. Lauren Weare shared the detachment's annual statistics from 2022, highlighting an increase in rural crime reports compared to 2021 and 2020.
According to the charts Weare presented on Jan. 30, Airdrie RCMP saw upticks in most criminal code offence categories in rural communities in 2022, as well as all property crime categories, compared to the year before.
Weare reasoned that during the two COVID-impacted years of 2020 and 2021, RCMP detachments around the country noticed a drop in reported crime, likely due to the increased amount of time people were spending at home during those years.
But now, those trends are starting to normalize.
“During 2020 and 2021, we were still seeing the effects of COVID with fairly low crime trends,” she explained. “What we're seeing now is the curb up as we normalize...to pre-pandemic calls for service. As soon as folks started getting out and about, crime starts to increase.
“I personally feel we're going to not see a full complete normalization until the end of 2024.”
In terms of criminal code offences, Airdrie RCMP's crime gauge included a 23 per cent increase overall in 2022 compared to 2021 – a 22 per cent increase in persons crime, a 35 per cent increase in property crime, and a 12 per cent drop in other criminal code offences.
As for property crime, Weare's charts showed a 44 per cent increase in break-and-enters (21 more instances), a six per cent increase in theft of motor vehicles (five more instances) and a 71 per cent increase in theft under $5,000 (150 more instances) during the same time frame.
According to Weare, the 71 per cent increase in reported theft under $5,000 in rural areas in 2022 was mostly driven by a spike in catalytic converter thefts.
“It is rising faster in the rural area than it is in the city,” she confirmed. “Most of that has to do with the fact a lot of our criminals are shopping and working in rural areas. It has to do with less population, when shops are closed, that sort of thing. That's why it's important for our members to be out and about and be focused on their patrols.
“Everyone out there, you know when something's quite not right. You usually know when something doesn't seem right, and we really need you to call so we can have a better mapping system of where suspicious activity is happening so we can respond to it accordingly.”
But while 2022 may have been a busier year for Airdrie's rural RCMP officers, Weare noted the overall reported crime incidents have declined since 2018. That year, officers responded to 1,471 rural calls for service, whereas in 2022, it was 1,333.
“The crime gauge does really look intimidating with the red arrows and big numbers...but it's only comparing one year,” she said. “The five-year trend shows an overall reduction since 2018.”
Questions
After the presentation, RCMP officers fielded several questions from the audience pertaining to rural policing priorities and strategies. Questions related to Airdrie RCMP's home alarm policy, concerns about the legality of drone operation in rural communities, alleged drug houses in Delacour, whether or not RCMP had noticed a spike in gasoline theft on acreages, recruitment strategies, RCMP response times, and how to avoid internet scams.
Cst. Jarom Leafloor, Crossfield's enhanced RCMP officer, responded to most of the questions. He added one of the easiest ways the public can help their local RCMP detachment is by calling in suspicious activity so the police can both respond to the call, and also track emerging crime trends.
“Anything like that, even if it’s the next day or two or three days down the road, please let us know,” he said.
Another question asked about the impact thus far of Airdrie RCMP's catalytic converter theft prevention pilot program, which was launched in June last year. In order to assist the police in solving catalytic converter thefts, Airdrie RCMP is partnering with local autobody and mechanic shops, who then offer their customers the option to etch a vehicle’s identification number (VIN) on the converter at no expense when servicing their vehicle.
“The [Airdrie Crime Reduction Unit] has had several proactive catalytic converter theft [investigations] and Airdrie Rural...has also had some investigations as a result of proactive patrols, in which they've interrupted some of those crimes,” responded Sgt. Andrew Boxall, Airdrie RCMP's team lead for the detachment's Crime Reduction Unit. “Certainly, catalytic converter theft is one of those crime trends we see rising a lot.”
Boxall went on to say his officers' response to catalytic converter theft is intelligence-led, and relies on calls in from local residents who witness or experience those crimes firsthand.
“We don't necessarily go after the crime of it because for a police officer to actually interrupt a catalytic converter theft in progress, you have to be extremely lucky,” he explained. "We go after the criminal, so that's where those trends become important. We can identify those offenders who have that as their crime of choice, and then target that offender.”
