The property crime spree that plagued Sackville and surrounding areas through the summer and fall calmed down in November and December, according to RMCP Sergeant Paul Gagné, presenting to Sackville town council last month.
Gagné was before council to present the Sackville detachment’s quarterly report, analyzing the 370 calls it documented in the three month period.
“The summer and September, October were quite busy with break-ins and thefts,” Gagné told council. “Not only in Sackville, but the whole area and southeast district… The public was generally aware of what I consider a bit of a spree. Especially over the last year, we had a lot of calls, people calling in suspicious things.”
But things took a turn for the better in early winter, said Gagné.
The RCMP report showed that theft under $5000 and break and enter cases doubled compare to the same time period the previous year. There were ten break and enters and 28 thefts under $5000 investigated through the Sackville detachment from October to December 2021.
Gagné told council that it was his impression that the majority of property crime was due to drug use, and dependance on illegal supplies of drugs. “I’ve spoken before about what I think is, in my opinion, driving a lot of the property crime,” said Gagné, specifically naming dependance on illegal supplies of crystal meth as an issue.
The same quarterly report noted only one drug-related case from October to December 2021, related to possession. The previous year during the same quarter, there was one trafficking case.
Gagné also noted high numbers of mental health related calls, which were up since last year, he said. “The fact that Mental Health Act investigations are highlighted as number three [on a list of most frequent daily occurences] is a good indicator how much mental health is a contributing factor in the demand for calls for service.”
“I would encourage the fact that we need to look at that more and more as a society for sure,” said Gagné.
