Whitecourt crime statistics, 2016

By Laura Bohnert

The Whitecourt Municipal Detachment has released the crime statistics for 2016—how did this year compare to 2015?

Statistics most notably show a decrease in the number of Mischief and False Alarm incidents in 2016 as compared to 2015. Mischief files decreased by 31 per cent—from 384 reported incidents in 2015 to 264 in 2016—while False Alarm files decreased by 27 per cent—from 346 to 254 reports filed. In addition, Other Theft Under $5,000 files showed a 10 per cent decrease—from 228 incidents to 206 in 2016.

Traffic Collisions and Property Damage incidents also decreased by 15 per cent, from 286 reported incidents in 2015 to 244 incidents filed in 2016, and Other Moving Traffic Violations dropped by nine per cent, from 171 to 156 reports filed.

Assault files, however, increased by nine per cent in 2016, from 145 filed incidents to 158 in 2016.

The report also depicted the number of Adults and Youths of each sex who were charged in 2016, showing a male predominance in the numbers of charges laid, both among adult and youth offenders. Males accounted for a total of 76 per cent of all charges laid in 2016. Adult males accounted for 72% of those charges—an increase from 68 per cent in 2015 as charges increased from 197 to 288. Male youths were charged in 13 incidents in 2016. In comparison, Adult females accounted for 95 charges in 2016, while there were only two female youth charges. The report showed 62 youths were involved in incidents where they were not charged.

The number of adults charged in Criminal Code cases increased by 46.2 per cent in 2016 while, overall, there was a 3.8 per cent decrease in the number of youths, both those charged and those not charged, since 2015.

The report also showed that crime trends for the past four years have represented an overall increase in the number of Criminal Code offenses—from 1,386 in 2013, to 1,550 in 2014, to 1,720 in 2015, to 1,788 last year.

Statistics revealed homicides and other offences relating to death to have increased in 2016, with one documented case compared to zero cases in 2015 and 2014; there were two homicides and other offences relating to death in 2013. Robbery decreased in 2016 with four incidents compared to eight reported incidents in 2015.

Sexual Assaults have increased consistently over the past four years, with 17 reported incidents last year in comparison to 11 in 2015, 10 in 2014, and four in 2013. Assault incidents, on the other hand, have been decreasing since 2014 (199): in 2015, there were 183 incidents, while in 2016, there were 169.

Kidnapping/Hostage/Abduction cases also dropped from five in 2015 to two reported cases in 2016. Criminal Harassment cases, however, saw a significant climb to 77 in 2016, compared to 24 in 2013, 23 in 2014, and 27 in 2015. Reports of Break & Enter have also showed a steady increase: 46 incidents were reported in 2013, 74 in 2014, 97 in 2015, and 106 last year.

There were four incidents of Arson reported in 2016, compared to nine in 2015. A similar drop in motor vehicle thefts was observed as well, from 108 in 2015 to 95 in 2016. Fraud incidents represented a significant increase, however, from 60 in 2013, 54 in 2014, and 65 in 2015 to 100 in 2016. Offensive Weapons incidents also increased to 25 last year compared to 20 the previous year.

Reports on drugs have showed relative consistency over the past two years: production climbed to two incidents in 2016 from one reported incident in 2013; 69 incidences of possession were filed, compared to 83 in 2013, 59 in 2014, and 65 in 2015; drug trafficking decreased from 55 cases in 2015 to 48 last year; and other drug enforcement incidents dropped from two in 2015 to one in 2016, placing the total for drug-related incidents at 120 compared to 2015’s 122.