The opening of a new 16,000 square foot police station equipped with local dispatch was definitely the top highlight for the Lacombe Police Service in 2016, and they now have some new tools they can use to address policing priorities this year.
 
Last year calls for service were up about 3%, a trend the Acting Police Chief expects to continue as Lacombe grows.
 
Crime trends Central Alberta experienced in 2016 also held true in Lacombe with an increase in property crimes, break and enters to local businesses, thefts from vehicles and thefts of vehicles.

Lorne Blumhagen says it doesn't necessarily translate into more people turning to crime “I don’t know that there is more people committing these crimes, but the people that are prone to commit these types of crimes are committing more of them. We often see that when we make an arrest for one incident, that individual is linked to numerous other events, it might be half a dozen or a dozen offences that are committed by that one individual in the course of a very short period of time”.

Another concerning trend according to Blumhagen is those individuals who were committing multiple crimes were going to greater lengths to evade police “with stolen vehicles we have experienced a number of occurrences over the last couple of years where people are trying to flee from the police. There is a minimum sentencing for anyone who is criminally evading police which is a minimum 2 year sentence which doesn’t seem to be much of a deterrent. People have rammed our police vehicles and we’re hearing of that happening in other police jurisdictions as well.”

Blumhagen is encouraged to see there was a slight decrease in crimes against persons and violent crimes in Lacombe in 2016.

In terms of policing priorities this year, Blumhagen says domestic violence will remain a priority, LPS will be looking at some provincial training around policing approaches to dealing with mental health issues, and traffic safety is also a focus, looking to reduce collisions by enforcement of speeding and distracted driving.