In a year when the COVID-19 pandemic has changed so many elements of life, crime was no exception.
Presenting at the Tuesday, April 20 Committee of the Whole meeting, Whistler RCMP gave elected officials a glimpse into the numerous ways the pandemic has shifted criminal patterns in the resort. Unsurprisingly, with tourism slowed to a trickle for much of the year, Whistler’s criminal statistics were down across the board—with some notable exceptions.
Overall, violent crime dropped seven per cent, from 190 to 177 incidents. Assaults were also down, by nine per cent, from 107 to 97 reports, although within that category, assaults with a weapon or assaults causing bodily harm rose from nine incidents in 2019 to 12 last year.
Sex offences overall were down 38 per cent, including sexual assault, which decreased from 29 incidents in 2019 to 17. Domestic violence, however, bucked that trend, increasing by 31 per cent, from 32 incidents in 2019 to 42 last year. This reflects a wider national and international trend during the pandemic, as the stress of lockdown has put victims at greater risk of intimate partner violence.
“Some of this can be related to COVID. There has been an increase in some domestic situations where people are housed in the same houses,” said Staff Sgt. Sascha Banks during the presentation.
Last year, the Sea to Sky RCMP created a specialized position to address domestic and sexual violence, launched with support from several local social-service organizations, which could have also contributed to the increase.
“When we actually brought the domestic violence, sexual assault position into Squamish, we saw an increase in sexual assaults. And part of that would be because we have the tools and the relationships built with places like the Howe Sound Women’s Centre, and we’re able to do a bit more of the victim contact and make it a more positive environment because there’s a lot of underreporting in those types of categories,” Banks noted.
Harassment (23 per cent) and uttering threats (32 per cent) were also up, another possible effect of the pandemic, explained Banks.
“Some of these can be related to some of that COVID-type behaviour that we’re seeing where people are just getting upset and frustrated,” she said.
In a similar vein, mental health-related calls were unsurprisingly also up, rising five per cent from 2019, a trend that has continued in the early months of 2021, Banks said.
“It’s not rocket science that a lot of this has to do with COVID and what that’s doing to people with the loss of jobs, finances, and the overall isolation that certain people are feeling,” she added.
Property crime, meanwhile, saw a major decrease of 29 per cent, from 656 incidents in 2019 to 467, and was down in every related category save one: theft over $5,000, which increased from four to five incidents. That includes bike theft, an issue that has stuck in the craw of local police for years, which dropped 27 per cent, from 51 to 37 incidents.
Drug offences contributed to the overall downward slide, with possession charges declining a whopping 67 per cent, from 76 to 25 incidents, and well below the recent high of 2016, which saw 251 incidents. Trafficking charges were also down, falling from 23 to 12 incidents.
In terms of traffic safety, another major enforcement priority for local Mounties, the pandemic likely contributed to a 23-per-cent drop in overall motor vehicle incidents, while the severity of the accidents that did occur signalled a less promising trend. Collisions causing less than $10,000 in damage rose from 75 to 95 incidents, while collisions resulting in more than $10,000 in damage jumped 64 per cent, from 22 to 36 incidents.
“You had some quite serious collisions within our area and to the north of us,” Banks said, adding that police noted an increase in motorcycles in the area last summer, which likely contributed to the rise. “You have fewer people coming up here but you have more serious collisions.”
Without its regular influx of revellers, Whistler also saw a 39-per-cent decrease in impaired driving, down from 544 incidents in 2019 to 330 last year.
In total, Whistler RCMP received 4,314 calls for service last year, a 15-per-cent drop from 2019. Local officers, who were vaccinated earlier this month, also issued $69,940 in COVID-related fines between October 2020 and March 2021.
“Our guys know how to do these tickets and they have a zero-tolerance policy,” Banks said.
