RCMP officers have begun daily bike and foot patrols in the socially troubled Trans-Canada Highway corridor area through downtown.
Staff Sergeant Ken Beard, head of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment, told North Cowichan’s council at a recent meeting that the daily patrols, which began in mid-May, are a big increase from the once every couple of weeks that the patrols were being conducted.
Coun. Tek Manhas pointed out that increased patrols and the cooperation between the RCMP and North Cowichan’s bylaw officers seem to be paying off.
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“I know we have seen quite a bit of improvement on our property on the highway corridor,” Manhas said regarding his business in the area.
“We still get people shooting up in the back and stuff, but it’s not as often as it has been in the past because of your presence there.”
In his report to council, Beard said calls for service regarding drug trafficking in North Cowichan were up 113 per cent, from eight calls to 17, in 2023 compared to 2022.
“We did a lot of work in the highway corridor to try and address some of the availability of drugs and firearms and we’re quite happy about that,” he said.
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Beard said there has also been a 63 per cent increase in calls for service regarding break-and-enters in residences, from eight to 13, in North Cowichan in 2023 compared to 2022.
“The majority of these calls involved a suspect and the complainant knowing each other, so it’s kind of an internal kind of situation as opposed to a stranger breaking into a person’s house,” he said.
“There’s also been a 75 per cent increase in calls for service regarding extortion over the same time period. That mostly involved extortion files where young male youths are being extorted online.”
Beard said uttering threats is also trending upwards, with 33 new files.
“These are not family violence files so that’s kind of an important point,” he said.
“Most of these files are occurring in the highway corridor area.”