RCMP Dealing with Repeated Calls to 3rd and George
Prince George, B.C.- The downtown area of 3rd and George Streets is now a hotspot for calls for police service.
That is one of the highlights of a presentation Prince George RCMP Superintendent Warren Brown will be making to Prince George City Council on Monday evening.
His presentation points out that between 2011 and 2015 there has been a 22% increase in calls for police to attend the 3rd and George area. In the first three months of this year, calls are already up 7% over the same period one year ago. According to Superintendent Brown’s presentation, over the past four years there have been, on average 132 calls to that area each month.
Nearly half of all the calls for service in the 3rd and George Street area between 2011 and 2015 were for non criminal code offences (49.7%) . The primary reasons for a request for police response are to deal with those who are either causing a disturbance or are intoxicated in a public place.
As for overall crime stats within City limits, for the first five months of 2016 there are improvements in some categories, and increases in others when compared to the same time period in other years:
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |
| Theft | 820 | 919 | 945 |
| MV Theft | 101 | 91 | 104 |
| B&E | 206 | 269 | 195 |
| Robberies | 24 | 29 | 31 |
| Assaults | 403 | 361 | 319 |
| Sexual Assaults | 36 | 18 | 26 |
The Superintendent’s report comes on the same evening Councillor Brian Skakun will submit a notice of motion calling for Council to direct Administration to report back on the possibility of a new bylaw that would allow for the recovery of costs from the owners of properties which have been sites for repeated calls for service from the RCMP and/or staff to deal with nuisance issues. While Council won’t debate the issue Monday night, the matter is expected to be up for discussion when Council meets again on June 27th.
Comments
Jeez, you’d think crime would be at a minimum 5 blocks from the police station.
location, location, location
Are they still doing the foot and bike patrols downtown?
I think their bike got stolen
Probably not doing any bike patrols after business hours or after dark, when most of the crime is happening. Just a guess though. :)
Does this have anything to do with the location of the Safe Injection site (the Fire Pit) also being at 3rd and George?
^^^^^Exactly what alpine17 said. Sorry to say but start looking after your people. The people that are all hanging around down there all seem to be of the same race.
Are you kidding me, lol. Absolutely terrible comment!
What race would that be nowiser?
scoobydoo1, drive by and have a look if you are not sure. We all know but in this PC day and age nobody wants to say it.
I could have sworn we are all the same race.
The human race, obviously.
Welll They maybe were waiting for the crthouse to open in the morning, so getting into mischief while waiting
Can someone tell Skakun that 3rd and George is the Provincial Court building, and they probably won’t be reimbursing any costs… has he lost his mind?
Not only that, but the sidewalks are owned by all of us. Problem is, the City is not likely to call anyone.
Well scoobydoo just take a drive down there and see for yourself. It’s quite obvious.
And medeon its unfortunate when one speaks the truth it is terrible
I feel bad for you and yours if you can justify racist comments… Look at all the crime that takes place at every bar and pub in this little town every single day of the week and realize you choose to see your own convienient truths. I am open minded and see good and bad with all people irregardless of race.
Maybe MR Hall and the city counselors can Suspend the court house business licence till they clean it up down there
The bylaw is intended for owners of RENTAL properties “which have been sites for repeated calls for service”. In other words, take care of your property; know who your renters are; take care of your property as required by landlord/tenant acts in most jurisdictions.
I do not see a breakdown of the time of day when the complaints have been launched at 3rd and George. I also do not see who made the calls. I would think they are mostly businesses. There have been some new businesses in the area over the last 5 or so years.
Whenever I drive around there in the afternoon and early evening it seems to me there are fewer people hanging out around there than there were say a decade ago. If that is a valid observation, then what we may be seeing is more vigilance by the newer business owners in the area or people walking around there with their cell phones.
I need more information to dig into the reason for the stats. Stats in themselves are useless. They are meant to be indicators of something. Those stats can point to many different causes.
This area has been a problem since the Mac and Astoria were there. Increased foot patrols would be great if only Mayor and council realized it takes a heck of a lot
more police manpower to keep it in check, let alone keep our high crime rate down.
Loser approaches not going to solve the issues downtown. People make me sick.
People in the downtown area are basically using the entrances to business’s as sleeping quarters. They congregate at night, and on any given morning you can see them sleeping in the doorways. Furthermore they are using the alleyways as bathrooms, and of course we have all the attendant needles strewn around. Business ends up picking up the needles (in bags provided by NH) and cleaning the alleys.
This is really a health issue that is being ignored by most people in the City.
I doubt that more patrols would make a big difference, however something has to be done, but I for one do not have a clue as to how this problem can be solved.
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