Drumheller RCMP Staff Sergeant Ed Bourque provided town council with the 2021 Quarter 4 Drumheller municipal crime report and statistics during the regular Monday, January 24 council meeting.
There was an overall nine per cent increase in total criminal code offenses in 2021 compared to the previous year, though S/Sgt Bourque says it’s important to look at the whole picture and not just the statistics.
“Criminal Harassment, for example, we had two (cases) in 2017, 11 in 2018, then it went down and back up to 11 in 2021,” S/Sgt Bourque tells the Mail.
While at first glance it may seem as though Criminal Harassment files have gone up by a staggering 450 per cent since 2017, S/Sgt Bourque notes the reality is a single additional case can disproportionally inflate the statistics due to Drumheller’s low crime numbers.
Although increasing calls can be a point of concern, S/Sgt Bourque points out these increases are minimal in comparison to other municipalities where a 100 per cent increase could mean hundreds of additional cases.
S/Sgt Bourque also noted some offences tend to increase in a cyclical pattern due to extenuating factors such as prolonged cold weather and financial struggles putting additional strains on people and leading to possible calls.
Another apparent increase in crime is most likely related to an increase in officers carrying out more community patrols. The additional patrols have allowed officers to conduct more checks on known and habitual offenders in these communities, which has resulted in additional charges for Failure to Comply and Breach.
Although some criminal offences did increase, there were some areas where the statistics decreased.
There was a 43 per cent decrease in Break and Enter instances, equating to 41 fewer instances; motor vehicle thefts were also down 32 per cent with seven fewer instances.
A similar trend was also seen in the rural, provincial areas serviced by the Drumheller detachment, including the villages of Carbon, Delia, Morrin, and Munson, and the hamlets of Dalum, Dorothy, and Rowley.

Kneehill County council declined an invitation to meet with Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver at the upcoming spring Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) convention during the regular Tuesday, January 11 council meeting.
Municipal councils across the province receive annual invitations to meet with various ministries and government agencies during the convention, though these 15-minute meetings are often to discuss concerns and express solutions with those involved.
“We’ve always espoused in the past we don’t necessarily want to meet with the Minister for the sake of meeting with the Minister,” Kneehill County Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Mike Haugen shared during the meeting.
CAO Haugen stated, from an administrative standpoint, he did not believe there were any pressing issues where Kneehill County council would need to accept the invitation.
Reeve Jerry Wittstock noted his only consideration was assessment reviews, but said RMA is advocating and working to get delinquent oil and gas companies to pay their taxes and he did not feel a formal meeting with Minister McIver would be worthwhile on this issue.
Division 5 Councillor Laura Lee Machell-Cunningham asked whether a meeting could be arranged to discuss Section 619 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) which pertains to authorizations of other governing authorities, such as the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC), and land use bylaw.
During discussions it was noted other opportunities for informal discussions at the convention. It was also noted, as Minister McIver’s constituency is in the Calgary area, council may have other opportunities to arrange a meeting with him at his constituency.
Deputy Reeve Ken King said he did not want Councillor Cunningham to feel discouraged and noted the MGA issue is “not going away” so could always be brought forward to the fall convention as they are likely to receive the same invitation request.
Council voted with six in favour and one against to decline the invitation for a meeting with Minister McIver at the spring RMA convention.