In the final quarter of 2023, there was “not an enormous change in the number of calls for service” compared to the same period the previous year, Staff Sgt. Jennifer Prunty told Gibsons council. In the same quarter of 2022, there were 461 calls for service in Gibsons, which rose slightly in Q4 2023 to 490 calls. Priority one calls were similar with 57 and 56 calls respectively.
As for statistics, Prunty said there was “nothing overly alarming jumping out.” Calls with mental health flags or check well-being both declined year over year for the fourth quarter, to 40 calls from 64 and 33 from 107 respectively.
There were some comparative increases as well in the calls for service, though these statistics do not necessarily mean charges were laid. According to the report, there were 77 charges laid in Gibsons for the quarter, lower than the 88 charges laid for the same time the year before. Calls about assaults rose to 75 calls from 49, while sexual offences rose to 20 from 11. Calls with domestic violence flags remained at five, the same as Q4 in 2023, 2022 and 2021.
In Gibsons, there were 20 calls about break and enters at businesses (an increase from 13 the same time the previous year) and three at residences (a decrease from 10). Shoplifting also decreased to 14 in Q4 2023 from 42 calls in Q4 2022.
At the Feb. 6 committee of the whole meeting, Mayor Silas White asked about the line of cause disturbance going up over the years (from 74 in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 126 for the same period in 2023), and whether it’s because “cause disturbance” is being interpreted differently. Prunty confirmed that there is overlap with bylaw and described it as a catch-all term for anything that causes disturbance, similar to check well-being calls and mental health calls. “We’re not necessarily going there to investigate a criminal offence, we’re going there to quell a situation that could develop into something else,” she said.
Community watches on the lower Coast monitored around 2,800 vehicles for speed, distractions, and crosswalk/intersection infractions during the fourth quarter of 2023. “Some locations were attended three weeks in a row and often the same drivers were noted as driving unsafely or at excessive speeds,” the Gibsons and Sechelt reports note. A three-week watch in one location found approximately 98 per cent of drivers drove at the proper speed, except during ferry traffic times.
In Gibsons, Speed Watch is still active and RCMP members are proactively patrolling as they start and finish their shifts. No issues were reported from foot patrol and traffic stops conducted during and after the Canucks Alumni fundraiser game in December at Gibsons Arena. Police are also conducting regular visits and foot patrols around St. Bart's cold weather Shelter as well as Gibsons Elementary and Elphinstone Secondary Schools, the report noted.
