The Dauphin RCMP provided an update at the City Council meeting on Monday night.
Speaking to the City Councillors, Staff Sergeant Raymond Campbell from the Dauphin detachment provided statistics on the first two months of 2021, compared to the previous year.
Comparing January of this year to last, call volumes were down 25%, and drug incidents were up slightly.
Perhaps the most pressing issue noticed in January was a 30% increase in mental health calls compared to the same period of time a year earlier, which Staff Sergeant Campbell says “is a concern within our community”.
Statistics for the month of February show mental health calls were also up 15%, with overall calls down 28%. Assaults were down 64% and mischief calls down 33% in February, compared to the same month a year prior.
Staff Sergeant Raymond Campbell also reported staffing levels are down 25%, “which seems like a lot,” but added, “compared to other communities in the province we’re pretty good.”
He credits the staffing issue to a minimal flow of new recruits due to COVID. “We’re not seeing the cadets come to the province like we normally are … and we’re adapting to that. I can’t say it’s going to get better soon, we’re on the train tracks for the long haul, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
“We do the best we can with what we have.”
The Dauphin detachment also has plans to support the Northwest Metis Council (NWMC), which is looking at getting an RCMP Family Violence Initiative Fund grant.
