Incidents tagged as “mental health flags” by the Sunshine Coast RCMP stabilized at 75 for the period of Jan. 1 to March 20 2023. That same number was cited for the first quarter of 2022 according to statistics submitted for review at the Gibsons’ April 18 committee of the whole meeting by local detachment commander Staff Sgt. Jennifer Prunty. In 2022, those reports increased by 24 per cent to 332 from 247 reported in 2021.
Reports listed as “check well being” tallied to March 20 of this year totalled 80, down from 116 during the first quarter of 2022. Between 2021 and 2022, those occurrences had risen by 17 per cent, from 414 to 483.
Also identified in the “other criminal code offences” category of Prunty’s reports were incidents of causing a disturbance. Those saw a small increase in 2023’s initial reporting period at 77, up from 72 in 2022’s first quarter. Their number in 2022 totalled 341 down from 345 the year before.
There were eight reports related to public liquor intoxication so far in 2023, down from 11 during the same reporting time frame of last year. 2022’s total for that offence was 47, up from 32 in 2021.
The “other criminal code offence” category saw a drop in reported incidents in 2022 to 549 from 611 a year earlier.
Missing persons reports rising
Also tabulated in that report category were 81 missing person reports in 2022. That was up from 71 in the previous year. The number for those types of cases continued an upswing in 2023 with 21 reported up to March 20 compared to 16 in the first quarter of 2022.
