Over the past year, police files have increased slightly in rural areas of the regional district, Comox Valley RCMP Insp. Mike Kurvers told directors at the May 11 meeting of the Electoral Areas Services Committee.
Black Creek generated the lion’s share of calls from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. Of 696 calls, 121 were traffic-related. Otherwise, most calls concerned a house of interest on Schulz Road.
“A lot of it is stolen property and recovering things,” Kurvers said, noting the challenge of collecting evidence. “We are on that house regularly. It’s one of our problem houses, and we do take it seriously and follow up with the residents regularly.”
Fanny Bay generated 349 calls while 272 came from Merville during that time period.
The police files were largely traffic-related. There were 15 residential break and enters, and 11 business break and enters.
“It’s very low counts in the b and e side of it,” Kurvers said.
The story is the same for auto theft. There were just eight police files for the fiscal year.
“From our standards, it’s not a lot of calls for service,” Kurvers said, noting it’s been “business as usual” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Yearly priorities identified in the RCMP Annual Performance Plan are crime reduction for prolific offenders, and traffic and road safety. Kurvers will add theft from motor vehicles to the list for rural areas.