Spring crime rates drop in Iqaluit: RCMP report

Police report a drop in the number of arrests in Iqaluit in April this year compared with April of last year, in what appeared to be an exceptionally peaceful spring season.

In his two-month RCMP report to Iqaluit City Council, May 14, Sgt. Monte Lecomte guessed that the arrival of the warm season has “calmed things down.”

“We’re looking at a relatively calm time right now, which is nice to see,” he said.

The Iqaluit detachment lodged 172 prisoners in jail in April, which was 51 fewer than April of 2012, Lecomte said.

This was the sharpest month’s decrease compared with last year. The sergeant reported an overall decrease in prisoners lodged for the year so far, with 820 up to the end of April as compared to 866 over the same period in 2012.

But March arrest rates this year were higher than 2012, up to 248 from to 184.

Drug charges have stayed “fairly consistent from month to month, year to year,” Lecomte said. “I really don’t have an answer as to why.”

Police conducted 14 investigations for drug-related charges in March, and six such investigations in April, which led to three charges that month, he said.

Officers increased patrols around Arctic Ventures Marketplace and Northmart to deter drug-trafficking, Lecomte said, which city council highlighted for him as trouble spots earlier this year and last.

The detachment laid one charge of arson each month. Police took three impaired drivers off the roads in March, and two in April, Lecomte said.

Lecomte said detachment officers will meet with school officials shortly to discuss emergency preparedness, and outline measures for schools to follow while waiting for responses from emergency services.