Safety in the M.D. of Bonnyville appears to be improving. The year end report details 3,932 incidents on roads in 2017, down from the 4,636 the M.D saw in 2016.
1,983 traffic tickets were written up in 2017, along with 1,337 written warnings, 89 bylaw tickets and about 20 parking tickets. Director of Public Safety Chris Garner attributes the economy as one factor in the decrease.
“A lot of the oilfield roads aren’t quite as busy anymore, so some of the concerns that were being brought forward aren’t a concern anymore.”
School resource officer visits increased in 2017 from both the public and catholic school boards. Garner sees that as a positive sign as more officers are getting out to the schools to teach about crime prevention.
“The numbers have gone up simply because we are able to get out more, in the past year where it’s comparing to 2016, for part of the year we only had 1 school officer, obviously 1 person can’t accomplish as much as 2”.
Peace officers were able to conduct 1,772 rural crime prevention programs, and the M.D. sees that as a start to the rural crime prevention program in the works. The full report will be available to the public on the M.D website once it is accepted by the Solicitor General’s office.