Community Policing Report Presented to Vegreville Town Council

Community Policing Report Presented to Vegreville Town Council

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

Vegreville RCMP S/Sgt Terry Hyggen presented his community policing report to members of town council at the Aug. 18 legislative committee meeting.

Hyggen discussed the department’s policing activities and released crimerelated statistics which occurred between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2020.

Some of the highlights of the report include calls for service, property offences, persons crimes, vehicle collisions, and drug trafficking investigations.

Hyggen stated, “There were 1,971 calls for services…Each Vegreville member investigated an average of 165 calls during the first half of this year or 27 calls per month.

There were 256 property offences reported within the Town of Vegreville, 37 break and enters, 19 vehicle thefts, and 89 mischiefs. Property Crimes have increased 30 percent of the past five years, however, these are down 17 percent from the first half of 2019.

There were 90 persons crimes reported, a decrease of eight percent from 2019. An increase of note was four robberies, suspects were identified and charged on two, and one was determined to be unfounded.

The suspicious sudden death of a 57-year-old Vegreville man on June 2, was determined to be a homicide. Investigation assisted by divisional and district resources resulted in charges of manslaughter against a 51-year-old male.

An ongoing covert drug trafficking investigation resulted in significant seizures and multiple arrests. Vegreville members assisted by divisional resources charged 12 offenders with trafficking in methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine.

Eighty motor vehicle collisions reported, 217 charges laid under the Traffic Safety Act within the Town of Vegreville.

He also reported that even though the School Resource Officer program is coming to an end at the end of 2020, each Vegreville School will be assigned liaison officers who will attend on a casual basis and assist as requested.

Mayor MacPhee told Hyggen council was happy with the SRO Program, but could not continue funding it because of the economic downturn.

There are 12 habitual offenders in the community on court-imposed conditions and are regularly monitored by the detachment. Compliance checks have resulted in 21 charges for failure to comply with conditions.

The detachment performance plan for 2020-’21 was prepared and implemented in the spring and priorities have been carried over to include crime reduction and police-community relations. We have a number of initiatives to address these issues.

Hyggen had also put out a call out to members of the general public asking for input until the end of August.