By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Mental health calls behind the surging Nanaimo crime stats

Feb 7, 2018 | 3:53 PM

NANAIMO — Two very specific sectors are behind rising crime statistics for Nanaimo.

Nanaimo RCMP superintendent Cameron Miller revealed to City Council on Monday what his officers are handling each day.

Police handled roughly 44,000 calls last year, which is up 16 per cent from 2015. Miller noted the number of calls is increasing faster than the population of the City is growing.

There were two major reasons for the steady increase:

• Downtown contributed greatly. Calls for service were up 30 per cent specifically for the area. Mental health calls downtown were up 79 per cent, one of the largest increases.
• Getting more specific, the largest increase was in the blocks around the overdose prevention site on Wesley St.
• Calls spiked 97 per cent around the overdose prevention site from 2015 to 2017. There were 468 calls for the year.
• The site opened early in 2017.
• RCMP Cst. Gary O’Brien previously told NanaimoNewsNOW there was an increase in petty crime around the site.

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Miller said the current pressures the 155 Nanaimo officers are facing continue to be homelessness in all areas of the community and visitors arriving earlier in the City and leaving later.

He said one officer is now specifically assigned to working on child pornography cases, which he said is a current pressure, but didn’t elaborate.

Last year, Nanaimo’s ranking as the 67th most dangerous city in Canada didn’t change, as officers dealt with few violent crimes but many minor crimes such as break-and-enters and fraud.

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