ESTEVAN – Call volumes for the Estevan Police Service remained stable for March, but are still below 2024's pace for the first three months of the year.
According to numbers released at the April 22 meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners, the EPS responded to 514 calls for service in March, down 11 from 525 for the same month a year earlier. For the first three months of 2025, the EPS had 1,375 calls, down 16 per cent from the 1,632 they had through March 31, 2024.
One category that was up in March was crimes against the person. The EPS handled 20 such calls, including 16 assaults and four sexual crimes, compared to 12 for the same month last year. Chief Jamie Blunden said there were domestic assaults and incidents involving family members, but the EPS also had two complaints from the Estevan Comprehensive School and one at St. Joseph's Hospital.
"It's not one individual area in which we have to concentrate. It's been all over the place," said Blunden.
Still, the number of crimes against the person was down for the first three months, from 39 in 2024 to 36 this year, with 28 assaults and eight sexual crimes.
There were 31 crimes against property in March, with 22 thefts under $5,000, six mischief/willful damage complaints, two thefts of a motor vehicle and one residential break and enter. Forty crimes against property occurred in March 2024. The total number for the first three months of this year was 79 such infractions, with 49 thefts under $5,000, 17 mischief/willful damage complaints, six thefts of a motor vehicle, four residential break and enters, two arsons and a theft over $5,000. There were 107 crimes against property in the first three months of 2024.
For the five-year average, crimes against property are still up approximately 11 per cent overall, Blunden said.
"The biggest driver … was the thefts under $5,000," said Blunden.
With the summer season approaching, Blunden said the EPS can expect to have more calls for thefts. He believes it will be important to be more visible in the community.
"I think we'll do a couple of educational PSAs [public service announcements] … to try to get people to recognize the backyards should be locked and the garages should be locked," Blunden said.
The EPS handled 12 Criminal Code traffic violations, with eight for impaired by alcohol/exceed-related offences, and four for impairment by drug. Through March 31, the EPS had 19 such infractions, with 12 for impaired/exceed related offences and seven for impairment by drug.
There were 10 Criminal Code Traffic violations in March 2024 and 33 for the first three months of last year.
No charges were laid under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, leaving the total for this year at five occurrences, all for trafficking. There were nine incidents under the CDSA in March 2024, and 13 for the first three months of last year.
The five-year average for calls for service is 1,72, a 17.8 per cent decrease. In addition to the average for crimes against property, the EPS had 34.4 crimes against the person, 71 crimes against property, 25.8 Criminal Code traffic violations and 12.8 violations under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
