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Council briefs: Crime down in Irricana during fourth quarter of 2020

Crime decrease Irricana did not experience much crime in the final months of 2020, according to the local RCMP’s quarterly statistics. Cpl.

Irricana did not experience much crime in the final months of 2020, according to local RCMP’s quarterly statistics.

Cpl. Leif Svendsen, an investigator and supervisor for the Beiseker RCMP detachment, reported the most recent crime statistics to Irricana Town council at their Feb. 16 meeting. He said there were 12 person crimes and 11 property crimes reported in the town to RCMP in the final quarter of 2020.

“Everything is down in terms of crime volume,” he told council. “Persons crimes were down 14 per cent and the select property crimes were down between 35 and 64 per cent in the Beiseker detachment area.”

According to Svendsen’s report, RCMP received one criminal harassment complaint in Irricana that was unfounded in the final months of 2020, one break-and-enter complaint from a local business and three fraud complaints that did not result in charges being laid. One of the fraud complaints related to a credit card phishing scam, Svendsen said, while the others were related to social media usage and a gift card purchase.

“There was a Snapchat extortion that went nowhere based on the nature of it,” he said. “The complainant didn’t provide a statement, anyhow. There was a gift card scam as well, where the gift card was purchased and the info was provided to a scammer.”

To help avoid falling victim to scams, Svendsen said he encourages Irricana residents to visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre – an online resource that outlines current scams and how to avoid them.

“When it comes to funds, identity fraud, etc., that’s the best resource to go to,” he said.

Svendsen attributed the downward trend in crime with RCMP’s increased visibility in Irricana – something council members agreed with.

“They know we’re watching, they know we’re out there, they know we’re around and aware of what they have done in the past, these prolific offenders,” he said. “I think they’re doing their work elsewhere, as a result.”

Another factor in the recent drop in crime, according to Svendsen, is the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said more people staying at home has caused drops in rural crime province-wide, as well as in nearby rural communities.

“We’ve been with COVID for pretty much a year now, and I think it’s normal now for COVID to be a part of our lives,” he said. “Beforehand, if I heard people would be losing their jobs, I’d think crime would go up, but they’re down across the board in the Beiseker and Airdrie rural areas.”

Business licenses

The Town of Irricana will not be following in the footsteps of some rural communities in Alberta, when it comes to refunding or waiving business license fees for 2021.

While the municipal councils of Olds, Carstairs and Crossfield have approved waiving or refunding business license renewal fees this year to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, a brief conversation among Irricana Town council members on Feb. 16 concluded it was too late in the process to offer the same benefit to local businesses.

Mayor Frank Friesen had made a notice of motion to discuss the topic at the meeting, during which councillors quickly determined it would be better to carry any discussion of business license fee waivers over to next year. According to staff, approximately 45 business license fees had already been paid.

“It is kind of late – if we were going to start this, we should have done it at the start of the year,” Coun. Jim Bryson said. “What we should do is see where this COVID crap goes. There’s no end to it that I see. This could possibly be something [council will] discuss in December this year for the following year.”

Skate park

A skateboard park could be coming to Irricana in the near future.

Town of Irricana Chief Administrative Officer Barrie Hutchinson told council on Feb. 16 that a group of proponents have money available to bring a skateboard park to the community.

“We won’t be funding any part of it but we might have to put up a light or something like that,” he said. “But I think we can work that out. The Lions Club also has a bunch of money saved they are willing to spend, so maybe we would get some money from them to help offset any shortfall.”

According to Hutchinson, the proponents will be coming to the next council meeting on March 2 with a formal presentation on what the park could look like and where in Irricana it could possibly be located.

He mused the ramps and rails could potentially be set up in the town’s outdoor skating rink in the summers.

“The skating rink surface needs to be redone,” he said. “It’s pavement and warped. There’s conversation there that they might be able to get some money to re-concrete that and put the skate park in there for the summer. That would benefit the town.”

Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19

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