The Drumheller RCMP have announced their top priorities for the next year in their annual performance plan. The plan was developed through consultation with residents, groups, and RCMP staff.
    The RCMP will focus on distracted driving, fraud, and property crime. Drugs and impaired driving are always priorities for the RCMP.
    “There are a number of concerns that are always a high priority for us,” said Staff Sergeant Art Hopkins. “They’re things that are always affecting the community, they never come off our areas of concern. The annual performance plan  is for areas when we have extra time or resources we can focus those energies,”
    The number of fraud investigations have remained the same compared to the previous year, but as Staff Sergeant Hopkins notes, the number of attempts have risen dramatically.
    “The area I feel is the fastest growing crime is fraud, generally associated with computers,” said Staff Sergeant Hopkins. “Most of those crimes, because of the internet, are coming from out of the province or country.”
    The growth in fraud is coming primarily from the internet. For example, residents may receive emails requesting money or personal information.
    Most fraud, however, is hard to resolve and social media is making fraud easier. The RCMP will be making an effort to educate residents on what kinds of scams are out there and how best to avoid them.
    “Most of those crimes we can’t solve, the most effective way to stop them is to make people aware of them,” said Staff Sergeant Hopkins.
    The last priority for the RCMP over the next year is property crime, with a focus more specifically on homes. Examples include mischief, damage, or disturbances.
    Distracted driving was highlighted, because after the initial reduction seen after the introduction of the new distracted driving law, there has been a steady increase over the past two months.
    “It was felt by us and the policing committee that we should try to make the area safer in regards to distracted driving,” said Staff Sergeant Hopkins.
    The distracted driving law, which came into effect last year and has it’s beginnings in Drumheller, resulted in a dramatic decrease initially. However, Staff Sergeant explained that the number of incidents has been increasing.
    “It was obvious people weren’t using their cell phones as much. They were pulling over and stopping on the side of the road to make calls,” said Hopkins. “It had a drastic decrease, but it’s come back. We’re going to make an effort to have increased enforcement and education in that area.”
    Staff Sergeant Hopkins explained that 90 per cent of accidents have a component of distracted driving and 30 per cent are directly caused by distraction.
    Last year saw a large decrease in the number of traffic accidents (from 284 to 205). Some of the factors that may have resulted in the drop include the mild winter, increased RCMP visibility, and the initial decrease in distracted driving.
    Hands free devices are available and Staff Sergeant Hopkins encouraged residents who tend to answer their phones while driving purchase one. The fines are steep for distracted driving.
    “At the end of the day, the whole idea is to make our roads a safer place to be,” said Staff Sergeant Hopkins.