The North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment had a busy year in 2016.
In a report to the Municipality of North Cowichan, Inspector Ray Carfantan said the detachment has seen a 15 per cent increase in calls for service over 2015.
He said the detachment has received 2,700 more calls for service in 2016 than in the previous year, an upward trend that has been continuing for the past four years.
Carfantan said he has requested “additional resources” from the province to bolster the detachment’s ranks to keep up with the increased demand for police services in the community.
But he said there are no guarantees that the province will allow any additional personnel for the detachment.
The detachment currently has 59 RCMP officers working when it is at full strength.
“Our general-duty staffing analysis will confirm with certainty the number of additional resources that we should have based on our call for service volume, and we will be able to determine exactly where these resources should be funded from,” Carfantan said.
“I hope to see that report by the end of the first quarter of 2017.”
In his quarterly report, Carfantan said that 51 per cent of the detachment’s calls for service in 2016 were from North Cowichan, 20 per cent were from the City of Duncan, 10 per cent from the provincial area and 13 per cent from First Nations lands.
Of the calls from North Cowichan in the fourth quarter of 2016, from October through December, 45 were assaults, 18 were weapons offences, 38 were for shoplifting, 120 were for mischief to property and 37 were for drug possession.