TIMMINS - Timmins Police is receiving fewer calls from the public, but officer engagement is increasing, according to the deputy chief.
During the Timmins Police Service Board meeting on Feb. 13, Deputy Chief Darren Dinel presented the January to September 2024 statistical report to the board.
He said the report shows a drop in violent crime and property crime in the city over the same timeframe in 2023. TimminsToday asked for a copy of the report, which police have provided in the past. It has not been shared.
The full-year report for 2024 is expected in the next few months.
While calls from the public to police dropped by 6.5 per cent, calls generated by the police went up by 24 per cent, said Dinel.
“We’ve noticed that officer engagement has significantly increased,” he said. “That includes things like traffic enforcement, compliance checks, being out arresting people who are wanted on warrants.”
Compared to the same time in 2023, property crime has dropped by 6.1 per cent, and violent crime dropped by 0.8 per cent.
“We’re getting those validated numbers in,” said Dinel. “At our next meeting, I should have a fuller understanding of what took place through the entirety of 2024.”
Specifically, he said break-ins had dropped by 32.5 per cent, and assaults dropped by 3.3 per cent.
Without the full report, it’s not clear what the percentages mean in terms of the number of actual incidents occurring.
When Timmins Police started sharing statistical data, the full report was provided to the media and posted publicly on its website. The new police website does not include the monthly data reports.
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In December, when Timmins Police Chief Sydney Lecky and board chair Kraymr Grenke talked to council about the service’s 9.6 per cent budget increase, council noted the reports have stopped being shared. Grenke agreed to provide public reports since the data are already available.
