An attempted murder investigation has been opened in Grande Prairie after shots were fired at a vehicle travelling on Highway 43 just west of the city Wednesday night.
A 19-month-old child in the vehicle was not hurt, but two adults had to be taken to hospital. RCMP said Friday the victims have been “less than forthcoming with information about the incident.” Officers determined the shooting was not random and the two were targeted.
It’s just the latest incident in what has been a surge in crime in the city of nearly 70,000 people.
Since 2010, crime severity has shot up by more than 30 per cent, to the point that Grande Prairie now has the highest rates of crime and violent crime severity in the nation.
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“I’d say the vast majority of it is drug related,” Insp. Don McKenna told Global News when asked about the rise in crime.
“Once people get addicted to drugs they do all kinds of things to feed that habit.”
“They’ll steal cars, they’ll look for the currency from that, they’ll break into vehicles, and they’ll commit armed robberies,” said McKenna.
To keep up with the rising crime rates, McKenna has had to call in officers from other detachments and the municipal traffic unit has been reassigned to crime suppression. The force just got the go-ahead from the city to form a five-member drug unit.
“For us, what we need is constant pressure on anybody who is going to be selling drugs in the city.”
That has lead to a heavy workload for officers. In 2014, each member handled, on average, 157 criminal code files at a time, which is more than double the national average for similar sized communities.
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The city is under increasing pressure to hire more officers. Last year, 12 new members were hired, and council has approved the hiring of nine more this year. That comes with a big cost, and the mayor says, as a regional hub, they need help.
“Under provincial government regulations, there’s no requirement for counties to pay for police,” said Mayor Bill Given.
“To the County of Grande Prairie’s credit, they pay for four police officers. The City of Grande Prairie, by the end of this budget term, will be paying for 105 police officers.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally stated that the Inspector had reassigned the RCMP’s roving traffic unit to crime suppression. It was corrected later Nov. 20 to say it is the municipal traffic unit that has been reassigned.
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