Reports of domestic violence fall for first time: police
By Peggy Revell on June 30, 2018.
prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell Medicine Hat police are hoping a decrease in the number of family violence files and charges is the start of a long-term trend. “We’re pleased with this decrease and we hope it continues over the next two years, and then we’ll be able to draw some firm inferences from the data,” said Insp. Brent Secondiak of data released last week within the MHPS’s annual report. According to the report, the number of domestic violence files in 2017 was 1,383 — down from 1,526 in 2016 and 1,486 in 2015. As well, the total number of charges stemming from domestic incidents decreased by 17 per cent — from 399 and 383 charges in 2015 and 2016 respectively, down to 315 in 2017. “There’s many factors that go into domestic violence,” said Secondiak —with the economy being a huge one. Fingers crossed, the decrease could also show the impact of the Safe Families Intervention Team (SFT) collaboration between the MHPS and Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society. When the program was launched in 2014, they expected and saw an increase in numbers of files, said Secondiak — just because of more intervention and outreach. Whether charges are laid or not, the program reaches out to offer supports to those involved with domestic violence incidents. This is the first year the numbers have dropped, said Secondiak. “The only thing is we have to wait three years to determine if there’s a trend or not. It just could be an anomaly.” Threats/criminal harassment While all other violent crime categories decreased slightly or remained stable in 2017 compared to the previous year — the report shows that the number of threats and/or harassment incidents increased by 34 per cent. “Threats or criminal harassment are against individuals not groups, so we can’t find any trends year to year for that.,” said Secondiak. “It’s just a spike in the complaints we’ve had. We’ve had no other factors that have led to the increase.” A lot of the threats and harassment are now social media based, he said — but this has been a factor in previous years. “We don’t really know (the reason). It’s one of those weird ones.” In 2017, the Medicine Hat Police Service: — Received 32,792 calls for service — Responded to a total of 1,260 mental health calls. — Responded to a total of 1,946 motor vehicle collisions — Issued 842 distracted driving tickets — Laid 120 charges of impaired driving — Responded to 6,134 calls for service for bylaw-related issues — Issued 24,967 traffic violation tickets through the specialized traffic enforcement unit — Documented fewer property crimes, with fewer break and enters, and theft charges than in 2016 25
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