The RCMP is calling on Albertans to use a new online crime reporting project to help curb rural crime.
“These reports assist us in crime analysis, aids us in establishing trends and patterns, and ultimately leads our investigators to the chronic offenders. It also assists us in making decisions about how and where to deploy resources,” said the RCMP in a press release.
“Crimes reported online will be taken just as seriously as crime reported in any other way.”
The platform was first launched last spring and reports are processed by the Police Reporting and Occurrence System (PROS) Data Centre.
It was first implemented as a means to help officers focus on high-priority calls instead of spending time doing administrative tasks.
Property theft under $5,000 can be reported on the website and users can upload photos along with their reports.
“Our number one priority is the safety and security of the public and of our officers,” said the RCMP.
“We are committed to providing the most effective, efficient policing possible and being responsive to the ever-changing policing needs in Alberta. Help us help you. Pick up the phone and report crime and suspicious activity to your local RCMP detachment, or go online to report eligible property crimes at https://ocre-sielc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/alberta/en.
According to Statistics Canada, rural communities in the prairies are disproportionately affected by higher rural crime rates than their urban counterparts.
“As with most property crimes, rates of break and enter and motor vehicle theft were higher in the Prairie provinces, especially Alberta. In 2017, police reported 978 break and enter incidents per 100,000 population in rural Alberta,” claimed a 2017 Statistics Canada report.
