Property Crimes Drive Overall Increase In City’s Crime Rate
Published
8 years ago
3 minute read
By Sheldon Spackman
Red Deer RCMP have released the City’s 2016 Crime Stats and they contain some good news and some bad news. The good news is, there was a small reduction in the overall crimes against persons in Red Deer in 2016. The bad news is, the number of property crimes resulted in an overall increase to Red Deer’s crime rate last year.
Persons crimes totaled 2,916 last year, down from 2,964 in 2015. Those crimes include things such as Homicides or offences related to death, robbery, assaults, sexual assaults, kidnapping, hostage or abductions, extortion, harassment or uttering threats.
In a release, Red Deer RCMP Superintendent Ken Foster says “In the final quarter of 2016, there was a significant decrease in robberies as compared to the same time frame in 2015, from 64 down to 39. While the overall numbers are similar to last year, we are encouraged to see this notable decrease in the final quarter. RCMP will continue to target those career criminals responsible for property crimes and robberies through Project Pinpoint, increased downtown enforcement and warrant round-ups.”
Property Crimes totaled 16,185 last year, up from 14,029 in 2015. Property crimes include offences such as Break and Enter, Vehicle Thefts, Theft over $5,000, Theft under $5,000, Possession of stolen goods, Fraud, Arson and Mischief.
In the same release, Mayor Tara Veer says “Council recently met with Deputy Commissioner Marianne Ryan of K Division and will be having subsequent discussions to ensure local concerns of our citizens are addressed. We have identified the need to focus on reducing local property crimes and improve response to non-urgent calls to police, in addition to the ongoing efforts to reduce organized and persons crime. As always, we strongly encourage Red Deerians to report all crime to the RCMP.”
On a more positive note, the total number of traffic infractions were down in 2016. They totaled 3,641 last year, down from 4,048 in 2015. Those violations include fatal crashes, MVC’s with injuries and vehicle damage that’s both reportable and non-reportable.
City officials say the implementation of Project Pinpoint was identified as a priority in the 2016-2017 Annual Policing Plan, along with monitoring high-risk domestic offenders, youth, road safety and organized crime. The APP objectives and measures for success are developed each year by Red Deer RCMP in conjunction with Red Deer City Council and The City of Red Deer, and the numbers for the first nine months show RCMP exceeding all APP targets.
For more detailed information on Red Deer’s Annual Policing Plan, click here:
Pushing back the date would preserve the pensions of some of the MPs who could be voted out of office in October 2025.
Aides to the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that MPs from the Liberal and New Democratic Party (NDP) did indeed hold closed-door “briefings” to rewrite Canada’s elections laws so that they could push back the date of the next election.
The closed-door talks between the NDP and Liberals confirmed the aides included a revision that would guarantee some of its 28 MPs, including three of Trudeau’s cabinet members, would get a pension.
Allen Sutherland, who serves as the assistant cabinet secretary, testified before the House of Commons affairs committee that the changes to the Elections Act were discussed in the meetings.
“We attended a meeting where the substance of that proposal was discussed,” he said, adding that his “understanding is the briefing was primarily oral.”
According to Sutherland, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, it was only NDP and Liberal MPs who attended the secret meetings regarding changes to Canada’s Elections Act via Bill C-65, An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act before the bill was introduced in March.
As reported by LifeSiteNews before, the Liberals were hoping to delay the 2025 federal election by a few days in what many see as a stunt to secure pensions for MPs who are projected to lose their seats. Approximately 80 MPs would qualify for pensions should they sit as MPs until at least October 27, 2025, which is the newly proposed election date. The election date is currently set for October 20, 2025.
Sutherland noted when asked by Conservative MP Luc Berthold that he recalled little from the meetings, but he did confirm he attended “two meetings of that kind.”
“Didn’t you find it unusual that a discussion about amending the Elections Act included only two political parties and excluded the others?” Berthold asked.
Sutherland responded, “It’s important to understand what my role was in those meetings which was simply to provide background information.”
Berthold then asked, “You nevertheless suggested amendments to the legislation including a change of dates?”
“My role was to provide information,” replied Sutherland, who added he could not provide the exact dates of the meetings.
MPs must serve at least six years to qualify for a pension that pays $77,900 a year. Should an election be called today, many MPs would fall short of reaching the six years, hence Bill C-65 was introduced by the Liberals and NDP.
The Liberals have claimed that pushing back the next election date is not over pensions but due to “trying to observe religious holidays,” as noted by Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen.
“Conservatives voted against this bill,” Berthold said, as they are “confident of winning re-election. We don’t need this change.”
Trudeau’s popularity is at a all-time low, but he has refused to step down as PM, call an early election, or even step aside as Liberal Party leader.
As for the amendments to elections laws, they come after months of polling in favour of the Conservative Party under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre.
A recent poll found that 70 percent of Canadians believe the country is “broken” as Trudeau focuses on less critical issues. Similarly, in January, most Canadians reported that they are worse off financially since Trudeau took office.
Additionally, a January poll showed that 46 percent of Canadians expressed a desire for the federal election to take place sooner rather than the latest mandated date in the fall of 2025.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, Trump leads Harris by 184,935 in a 53%-46% split.
Former President Donald Trump was declared the winner Saturday night in Arizona, marking the final swing state for the Republican to collect in his landslide victory.
Arizona was the seventh and final swing state to be decided, securing Trump 312 Electoral College votes.
All but Coconino, Apache, Santa Cruz, and Pima counties favored Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. Maricopa County, the source of dozens of electoral challenges including a partisan ballot review of the 2020 election, is currently favoring Trump by more than 78,000 votes. Trump lost the state to President Joe Biden in 2020 by little more than 10,000 votes.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, Trump leads Harris by 184,935 in a 53%-46% split.
Complete election results aren’t expected for at least another week, which is no different from previous cycles. Two-page ballots with dozens of judicial retention races and ballot propositions led to slower results in the days after polls closed. A new election integrity law enacted this year requiring polling stations to count envelopes before they can send off ballots added to the lag in results.
Both the Trump and Harris campaigns made Arizona a priority throughout the election cycle, either hosting rallies themselves or sending big-name surrogates.
Campaign volunteers descended on Maricopa County to join local activists who knocked on thousands of doors in the days before the election. Many residents complained about the barrage of phone calls, texts, emails, and flyers from numerous organizations.
