DRUGS, ALCOHOL CAUSE MAJORITY OF MERRITT CRIME

Drug and alcohol abuse is considered the root cause for a majority of
offences occurring in the City of Merritt, according to a Merritt RCMP
Comparative Crime Trends report.

Staff Sgt. Scott Tod presented the report, which compared crime
statistics from 2010 to those from 2009, to the mayor and council
during a regular council meeting Feb. 8.

The report indicated an increase in Persons Offences, including 30
reports of assaults with a weapon compared with 23 in 2009, and 75
reports of common assaults compared with 43 in 2009.

"The increase in Persons Offences is directly related to the high
demand for drugs in our community," said Tod.

Tod explained that due to the high demand for drugs, the community of
Merritt has been identified as an attractive environment for Lower
Mainland drug traffickers, which has led to more assaults.

The report also indicated an increase in thefts, shoplifting and
wilful damage also directly related to the high incidence of drug and
alcohol abuse in the community.

"Our biggest threat is the substance abuse -- alcohol and the demand
for drugs," said Tod, adding that the demographics portrayed by the
public about the people using drugs are not accurate since they are
not necessarily the people on the streets.

According to the RCMP presentation, though there is a lot of marijuana
use in the community, the problem drug is crack cocaine.

Merritt RCMP Const. Kelly Bartch who also spoke at the meeting about
the connection between downtown crime reduction and Merritt's general
investigation unit said though there is definitely a drug problem,
Merritt is not the only community struggling.

Both Bartch and Tod mentioned that the increase in recorded offences,
including Public Intoxication, is directly related to the
implementation of the Downtown Crime Reduction Position and increased
enforcement in the downtown core.

"The numbers look worse because we're targeting it," said Bartch, "but
from our perspective, we're doing a better job."

Mayor Susan Roline said she was not surprised to see the increase in
light of what's been going on within the RCMP detachment.

"We were told when we hired two more police positions that our numbers
would go up not down, because now you have more officers answering the
calls," said Roline.

On the other hand, the report indicated a decrease in Break and Enter
offences, which the RCMP attributes to the targeted enforcement of
prolific offenders. Business Break and Enter reports went down to 29
in 2010 from 43 in 2009, and Residence Break and Enter reports went
down to 45 from 53 in 2009.

The report also indicated an increase in False Alarms, which places a
strain on detachment resources, especially in the case of intrusion
alarms requiring a multiple officer response, said Tod.