Bonnyville town council got an inside scoop at what RCMP officers are dealing with at town hall. Sergeant Sarah Parke of Bonnyville RCMP detachment was on hand with a quarterly report of crime stats and information. Parke touched on things such as community involvement of the officers, high-yield drug busts and the results of summer check-stop program.
Among the stats presented included an increase in drug trafficking offences in the town compared to this time last year. Parke says the numbers growing is a positive.
“I’m not overly concerned about that number. In fact, I’m happy to see its higher. It’s probably been that high all along. We’re just enforcing it and catching it more.”
Other stats seeing an increase in the town included Assault and Fraud. Theft under $5,000 charges has gone down by about half what they were last year, says the mountie report.
As for the future, Parke says a lack of staff around the department has been a pain.
“We’ve got some constables who have been off and remain off work indefinitely. Another is on parental leave. We are still struggling with some shortages in manpower but we are dealing with them the best we can.”
Parke says the Bonnyville detachment commander position remains open after Staff Sergeant Luis Gandolfi left in March.