Don’t speed in Port Coquitlam.
That’s the message from police after the number of speeding tickets issued in the city for the last four months of 2019 jumped to 599, higher than the three-year average of 294 during the same time period.
Thanks to the hiring of an officer to focus on traffic issues, the RCMP said it has been able to crack down on motorists driving too fast in the municipality.
That’s just one of the highlights presented to Port Coqutilam city council this week in a report showing how police are handling some high-profile issues, such as homelessness, thefts and assaults.
PoCo continued to see a drop in the crime rate over the year from 73 per 1,000 people down to 65, but break and enters were a problem for businesses and residences, which saw between 40 and 46 cases over the fall.
There were also 202 reports of theft from vehicles, 125 assaults and 37 family violence cases. Sexual assaults continued to be a concern at 17 cases for a 13% increase over the three year average, prompting the hiring of two officers to deal with these complex cases.
Meanwhile, the number of mental health calls continues to challenge RCMP, whose members often have to wait for up to two hours while individuals are referred to local hospitals.
“Overall the number of mental health calls remains high in relation to assigned resources and continues to be an area of focus.” according to the report to council.
The document suggests targeting crime hotspots in the city is also paying off, with the Uniformed Crime Reduction Unit — an 18-member force shared with Coquitlam — doing foot patrols, curfew checks and street checks and engaging with the local homeless population to stop crime from becoming entrenched.
Overall, the detachment had 1,981 interactions in downtown Port Coquitlam, including general duty and UCRU files, the report notes.
