The Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) prefers to educate residents about obeying pandemic-related restrictions instead of handing out tickets but won’t hesitate to penalize people if necessary, the police chief says.
The police service responded to 15 pandemic-related calls in February, bringing the year-to-date total to 25 calls, according to crime statistics presented during the Board of Police Commissioners’ March 9 meeting.
Pandemic responses is a new line item in the report and Supt. Devon Oleniuk highlighted it for the commissioners’ benefit.
“If we look back from Feb. 15, (2020) to current, we are at 125 calls with respect to pandemic concerns. We label those non-compliance,” he said.
Of those 125 calls, police have handed out 12 tickets to people who refused to follow health guidelines, Oleniuk continued. Two tickets were related to masks, nine tickets were for exceeding gathering sizes, and one ticket was handed out during a mobile Freedom Rally convoy when a poster fell off a vehicle and the police charged the driver under the Traffic Safety Act.
“We attempt to resolve these issues through gaining compliance, and what we found (is) very often, we are able to get compliance,” said Police Chief Rick Bourassa. “However, there are times when that doesn’t work, and we move to that next level of charges.”
The number and size of Freedom Rallies have declined since January, he continued. About 70 people attended the event in-person that month, while since then, all the events have been mobile. However, these rallies have attracted about five vehicles.
Police officers have continued — and will continue — to educate people who attend these rallies, Bourassa added.
Crime statistics
The MJPS responded to 1,111 calls for service in February, which is a decrease of 26 from the year before, the data shows. Since Jan. 1, the police service has responded to 2,283 calls, an increase of 31 from the year before.
While it’s never possible to identify trends after only two months, Bourassa pointed out that crimes against the person and property have declined compared to last year.
Overall, crimes against the person have declined to 72 incidents this year compared to 93 incidents last year, a drop of 22.6 per cent, the data shows.
There have been 37 assaults year-to-date, compared to 51 during the same time last year, including:
- Sexual assaults: 7 / 8
- Common assaults: 20 / 34
- Assault with weapon/cause bodily harm: 6 / 8
- Aggravated assault: 2 / 0
- Assault police: 2 / 1
Domestic disputes, however, have increased to 30 incidents year-to-date compared to 20 episodes during the same time last year, a jump of 50 per cent. As Bourassa has said for months, this is not surprising given the stresses faced during the past year.
“The pressures the pandemic has brought … people are worn out,” he said. “We respond, and hopefully, we’re able to negotiate peaceful outcomes to those.”
Year-to-date, police have responded to 174 calls about crimes against property, compared to 206 calls during the same time last year, a decrease of 15.5 per cent, the data shows. This includes:
- All break-ins: 35 / 55
- Motor vehicle theft: 10 / 11
- Theft over $5,000: 3 / 2
- Theft under $5,000: 82 / 97
- Mischief over $5,000: 44 / 41
So far this year, there have been nine charges for impaired driving compared to 14 last year; 43 motor vehicle collisions over $1,000 compared to 62; 17 provincial liquor infractions versus 26; and seven drug charges compared to three last year.
The next Board of Police Commissioners’ meeting is Tuesday, April 13.
