The Swift Current City RCMP had a busy 2023 responding to and investigating over 5,000 incidents.

They had a total of 5,225 incidents, which is about a five per cent increase from the two previous years that fluctuated between 4,930 and 4,981. 

The most common occurrence the RCMP dealt with last year was provincial traffic offences that accounted for about 30 per cent of their events.

Distracted driving offences are one of the many violations that make up traffic incidents. It is also one issue that city council and City RCMP have focused on for their 2023 priorities. 

"Thirty tickets were issued for distracted driving [from October to the end of December] for driving with a cellphone and two warnings were issued," City RCMP Staff Sergeant Evan Gordon said.

Overall traffic offences in the city have plummeted but that's due to an understaffed traffic services division.

Sticking with infractions committed behind the wheel of vehicles is the jump in impaired driving-related calls the detachment received at 112. That's a 93 per cent increase from 2021 and a 27 per cent rise from 2022. 

According to Gordon, two age categories are behind the swelling numbers. Individuals aged 16 to 19 accounted for over 20 per cent of the incidents (up from five per cent in 2019) they encounter and 20 to 30-year-olds comprise over 30 per cent. 

"We can speak about the education that is going on and the work that SGI and other government agencies, school boards and districts are doing but when I look at those statistics, we really have a problem with our youth."

From October to through the end of December the City RCMP caught 11 impaired drivers, nine by alcohol and two by drugs.

Break and enters to businesses, residences, and others soared in Swift Current last year with a total of 93 reported. In 2022 there were 53 reported and 45 the year previous. However, in December there were four, a decline the City RCMP noticed.

"Break and enters to businesses were down from the very first quarter of the year [April to June] 64 per cent and from the middle quarter [July to September] 79 per cent," he said. "Again, something that we saw last quarter, in some instances with one or two specific people involved. Once these people were caught the numbers drop off."

The other issue that remains a growing concern for Gordon and his staff is fraud. One hundred and sixty-four reports were fielded by the RCMP last year, an increase of 24 per cent from 2022 and 44 per cent from 2021.

"If something seems too good to be true, a phone call out of the blue or an email or a letter, it probably is," he said. "We're trying to educate the public a little bit more. Providing presentations on fraud and what to look for. Financial institutions themselves are also assisting." 

A few stats that fell in 2023 when compared to the two prior years include assaults, drug enforcement and motor vehicle collisions.