Property crime rising in Cypress County, Redcliff RCMP report

Southern Alberta Newspapers

Redcliff RCMP presented their enhanced officer report to Cypress County on Feb. 6, covering both the July-September and October-December quarters.

Property crime has increased drastically, said Staff Sgt. Michael Courty during the report, with a 102 per cent increase from July to September, compared to previous years, with these mostly being theft of vehicles or of property from vehicles.

Traffic crime has also increased, including a few serious collisions resulting in injury. Crime in the area is otherwise down.

“From 2022 to 2023, though,” said Courty, “Everything was down.”

The body-worn camera initiative has been found to not meet requirements; Courty specifically noted that prairie winds often prevented the attached microphones from clearly picking up conversations.

Priorities remain rural crime prevention, traffic enforcement and maintaining a positive presence within the communities, which Courty said will continue to improve as resources return.