The North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment is conducting a review of its available manpower resources due to the consistent rise in calls for service over the past four years, according to Inspector Ray Carfantan.
Carfantan, the officer in charge of the detachment, told Duncan city council on Monday, Aug. 15, that service calls have increased overall by 12 per cent since 2012, with a sharp increase of 16 per cent so far in 2016.
He said the RCMP will be looking closely at the number of police resources that are available to respond to calls, and the types of calls they are attending.
“An analysis of our calls for service...will ultimately determine what resource levels we require,” Carfantan said.
But Carfantan said the detachment is not calling for more police officers at this stage, and is working to deal with the increased demand for service with the resources currently available.
He will make a similar report to North Cowichan municipal council at a later date.
The detachment is currently operating with 59 RCMP officers when at full strength.
Carfantan reported that the detachment received 5,106 calls for service from April through June this year, compared to 4,454 calls in the same quarter in 2015.
He said that so far in 2016, the detachment has had an increase of 1,357 calls for service compared to 2015.
“If this trend continues, we will see an overall increase of over 2,500 calls for service in 2016,” Carfantan said.
Among the calls made to the detachment from April through June, 92 were assaults, 37 were weapons offences, 11 were sexual offences, 129 were break and enters, 24 were vehicle thefts, 145 were for causing a disturbance and 57 were for drug possession.
Approximately 19 per cent of the calls were from the City of Duncan, while about 51 per cent were from North Cowichan.
Approximately 14 per cent of the calls were from First Nations lands, and about 10 per cent were from provincial lands.
Another six per cent of the calls were from people going to the detachment directly.