Some heavy-duty cases have stretched Squamish RCMP's resources in the past year, the Sea to Sky's officer-in-charge told District council.
"This year, our serious crimes team has been focused on a significant child abuse case, a child pornography case, prolific sexual assault and the [Sea to Sky] Gondola file," said Insp. Kara Triance.
"That really took our seven-person GIS [General Investigation Section] team and fully taxed them. So the work on our prolific offenders and our property crime offenders didn't get done in the same way when they were tasked with those other files."
The gondola investigation is still ongoing, and officers are working with multiple detachments in the Lower Mainland, she said in an update to municipal council on Jan. 28.
When reviewing statistics, Triance said some crime rates are up, but largely because police have changed the way they record incidents.
She said that the model changed in 2019 — officers now treat reported crimes as having happened, unless evidence suggests something's amiss.
"We no longer look at a reported incident as it may have occurred. We believe that it occurred unless otherwise proven," said Triance.
"We believe victims...when they come forward and they say this has happened."
As a result, Triance said results from 2019 shouldn't be compared with the numbers recorded in 2018.
She said the change in statistics will result in different figures, especially for assaults, sexual assaults and uttering threats.
RCMP numbers show 495 cases of violent crimes in 2019, up from 477 in 2018.
For 2019, that included two robberies, three kidnappings, 25 sexual assaults, 43 cases of domestic violence, 50 cases of uttering threats, 103 reports of harassment, 127 cases of assault and 39 weapons offences. There were no cases of murder.
Property crime rates were up across the board compared with 2018. In these cases, Triance said the statistical change is less likely to have affected those reports.
There were 881 cases of property crime in 2019, up from 708 the previous year.
In 2019, among other things, there were 22 break-and-enters into business, 38 break-and-enters into residences, and 15 'other' break-ins.
The numbers also show 32 auto thefts, 194 thefts from vehicles, five cases of theft over $5,000, 130 cases of theft under $5,000, 50 bike thefts and 19 cases of possession of stolen property.
Drug trafficking also continues to be a problem.
In 2019, there were 20 such cases.
Triance said that last week, officers were involved in a "significant fentanyl seizure," which led to the jailing of a suspect.
Officers are also expanding their repertoire to include some very Squamish-specific talents.
Police have been engaging in snowmobile patrols to survey protected areas during the winter.
Officers have also engaged in crevasse training, as they are often involved in search-and-rescue operations.
