Crime is down, reports Staff Sgt. Scott West.
West addressed city council recently and said Criminal Code cases and property crimes are down 19 per cent from 2013.
He said Salmon Arm is victimized by travelling criminals but, overall, “it seems as if we’re seeing a downward trend in the Salmon Arm area.”
Referring to statistics from April through June, West said officers were busy on the highways. About 390 drivers were charged or issued warnings during that period, while there were more than 400 from July to September.
“So over 700 warnings and charges in the past six months,” he reported.
Coun. Alan Harrison said he wished to thank officers and Citizens on Patrol for their presence during the start to the school year.
“It was certainly evident in my school zone (Hillcrest Elementary),” he said.
Harrison asked about false and abandoned 911 calls and false alarms, noting they make up just over 30 per cent of total calls for service.
West said there isn’t much police can do, but they do give talks in schools to discourage false calls.
“The issue is where you give the phone to the child in the back seat for games and they hit 911 – there’s no way of tracing it as there’s no contract for it.”
He said the police get many of them because of the large amount of highway traffic.
“Those numbers are not out of line from what we see in other communities.”