ESTEVAN — The Estevan Police Service believes it is seeing positive results from increased crime prevention efforts.
Speaking at the Nov. 13 meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners, Chief Jamie Blunden said the EPS had an average of 26.8 crime prevention measures in the first eight months of this year, including school visits, and time spent at city properties, St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Estevan Public Youth Centre.
“In August, we had notified the membership that we wanted to see some more downtown crime preventions,” said Blunden.
The average for September and October was 44 crime prevention efforts, and 30 per cent was in the downtown area. Twenty-five to 30 per cent of the crime prevention time was at city properties, 25 per cent was dedicated to schools, and the remainder was elsewhere in the community.
“I think we’ve had some positive feedback from the businesses here, and I think it’s shown,” said Blunden.
The EPS had 716 calls for service in October, up slightly from the 699 for the same month last year. So far this year, the department has had 5,977 calls for service, down 5.3 per cent from 6,314 through Oct. 31, 2024.
The municipal police service had 15 crimes against the person in October, compared to 14 the previous year. Twelve of the calls were for assaults. The EPS also had one each for a sexual crime, an assault causing bodily harm and a robbery.
Blunden noted that among the assaults, four were unfounded and three had insufficient evidence. In two cases, the victims did not wish to provide a statement.
In the first 10 months of this year, the EPS had 117 crimes against the person, with 93 assaults, 11 each for sexual crimes and assaults causing bodily harm, and one each for robbery and murder. In the first 10 months of last year, the EPS had 150 crimes against the person.
Thirty-nine crimes against property were reported in October, led by 22 thefts under $5,000. The EPS also had seven mischief/wilful damage reports, four each for thefts of a motor vehicle and residential break and enters, and two business break and enters. There were 38 crimes against property in October 2024.
In the first 10 months of this year, the EPS had 368 crimes against property, down from 381 for the same period a year ago. Officers have had 201 calls for thefts under $5,000, 110 mischief/wilful damage complaints, 23 each for thefts of a motor vehicle and residential break and enters, seven business break and enters, four thefts over $5,000 and two arsons.
Thefts have been “a bit of a thorn this year”, Blunden said, and October's incidents included shoplifting from retail stores, unlocked vehicles and deliveries left on front steps.
There was one incident for trafficking under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) last month, down from two in October 2024. Fourteen incidents of trafficking and six for possession have occurred this year, compared to 16 and 10, respectively, for the same period last year.
Twelve incidents of Criminal Code traffic violations occurred last month, with eight for impaired/exceed-related offences, one for impairment by drug and three for dangerous driving and other. There were 22 for the same month last year.
In the first 10 months of this year, 89 incidents occurred, with 55 for impaired/exceed-related offences, 22 for impairment by drug and 12 for dangerous driving and other. There were 115 in the first 10 months of last year.
Blunden believes visibility has played a role in the overall reduction in crime numbers.
“Any kind of survey out there you can look at reports that visibility is a detractor in crime. If the members are out and about [it helps] – we had the bike unit out there this summer and our members were out and about … walking the beat,” said Blunden.
When the EPS gets its automated dispatch system in place, Blunden said it would show where members are going. Right now, the EPS has a student from the University of Regina working on thefts and property crimes, to show when and where they occur.
The five-year average for the EPS 6,597 calls for service. Crimes against property for the first 10 months of the year are above the five-year average of 328. The other numbers are down, as the average is 126 for crimes against the person, 108 for Criminal Code traffic violations and 26 under the CDSA.
