Nelson suffered from a significant rise in crime last year that occurred as the municipal police department struggled to operate with chronic staffing shortages.
Annual data provided by Statistics Canada show Nelson's 2023 crime severity index score, which is a measurement of Criminal Code violations weighted by seriousness of offences, was its highest since 2008 at 106. That score is a 19.7 per cent rise from 2022's data.
Nelson's score is higher than both the provincial (104) and national (80) marks, but lower than Creston (152), Trail (145) and Castlegar (115). Other local communities in the report include Grand Forks and Boundary (79), Salmo (76) and Kaslo (61). The rural area surrounding Nelson policed by RCMP was also given a score of 42.
Violent crimes in Nelson were essentially unchanged from the previous year, but the non-violent CSI score was up 27 per cent to its highest level since 2010. The city for example saw an increase in the number of mischief calls reported to Nelson police, which at 203 was the most in 11 years.
Deputy Chief Raj Saini of the Nelson Police Department believes the city's evolving demographics are influencing the nature and number of calls to police.
"I think a lot of changes socially, demographically, in the community has caused us to be more open to policing and the diversity in regards to the calls that we're attending," he said.
The province's 2023 decriminalization of the possession of some illicit drugs likely led to some incidents, Saini said, but he speculated there was also a decrease in drug-related calls due to police adopting a health-first approach to interactions with community members. There were just six drug violation incidents last year, and none led to any persons charged.
"But I think on the other side, we've probably seen an increase in regards to vagrant calls, common nuisance and social disorder calls, people hanging out with loitering."
The types of crimes that did increase in Nelson were breaking and entering (62 reported incidents, the most since 2005), vehicle theft (26 incidents, a 14-year high) and theft over $5,000 (13, the most since StatsCan began its record keeping in 1998, compared to just three in 2022).
NPD meanwhile responded to more incidents last year than it had in a decade. The department received 1,156 calls in 2023, a number that is less than the actual number of reports made because StatsCan does not record calls that aren't crime-related or considered unfounded. Mental-health crisis calls are also not included if they aren't considered a criminal incident. NPD also only had 103 charges approved, the fewest since 1998.
The 127-year-old department began 2023 with the loss of two officers who were killed in a backcountry avalanche. There was also retirements and resignations, some of which were connected to the ongoing investigation of alleged racist group messages between officers. Three officers had also been assigned to the RCMP's Integrated Road Safety Unit for the year.
In December, Chief Donovan Fisher said the department was operating with just 11 front-line officers instead of the full compliment of 18.
Saini believes staffing shortages are the reason for the department's worst weighted clearance rate since 2006. That measurement shows the number of cases leaning toward serious offences that end with an approved charge or outcome not requiring a trip to court. Nelson's department has in recent years typically led B.C.'s 11 municipal forces in the category, but last year its score dropped 33 per cent to just 27.14.
(Nelson still ranks third best among municipal departments. Central Saanich Police led with a score of 33, while the Delta and Victoria/Esquimalt departments tied with a low of 17 each.)
Lack of staff, Saini says, led to certain crimes being prioritized for investigation over others. Nelson had just 30 impaired driving incidents last year, the lowest since 2000, with only three people charged. Saini said that stat is probably impacted by staffing.
“I don't think it's decreased the number of impaired operations. I just think just the lack of resources haven't allowed us to be more proactive with the community as it relates to some of these proactive initiatives that we should be doing, because we're tied up on other calls through the call volume.”
Those issues are set to be short lived. The department hired six officers last year and another in January. City council has also approved the hiring of two more officers this year, which should bring the total number of staff to 23. Fisher has said he hopes to have 25 officers by 2026.
Saini believes the increase in resources will help the department's clearances rates for 2024 as well as other initiatives such as the community safety officer program and target areas in the city prioritized for patrol.
“We want to reiterate that the members are working hard. Patrol priorities are proactive initiatives. We are definitely focusing on these things.”
