Richard Froese
South Peace News
Peace Regional RCMP report a somewhat peaceful season of celebrating Christmas and New Year’s.
“Overall, we had a good Christmas season with many responsible community members finding alternative ways home,” Cst. Julie-Ann Strilaiff says.
For the period Dec. 22-25, police completed 63 files, including traffic stop, which made for a busy few Christmas days for officer, she says.
Then, from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2, officers were also busy with 72 files, including traffic stops.
Those filed covered various issue, including traffic collisions, assaults, reports of suspicious person, break-and-enters, mischief, well-being checks and mental health concerns.
Police ordered two immediate roadside sanctioned impaired drivers taken off the road from Dec. 1 to Jan. 1.
Christmas was also a fun time for officers.
Peace Regional RCMP was visited by two members of the Elf Unit in December.
Cst. Cruizer and Cst. Candycane daily visited schools, businesses and communities all over the region, providing safety tips.
The Elf Unit is a fun public education campaign led by Strilaiff with local media outlets to promote public safety and crime prevention.
Peace police responded to 45 reports of traffic collisions from Dec.1 to Jan. 1, Strilaiff says.
Many involved road and weather conditions and wildlife hit by vehicles.
During the last month of 2024, police issued 92 violation tickets and four warnings.
The top violation ticket were:
- 17 for operating a vehicle without valid registration.
- 13 for illegal tinted windows and windshield on a vehicle.
- 10 for exceeding the speed limit on a road.
- 5 for failing to obey a traffic control device.
- 5 for operating a motor vehicle with a non-compliant windshield and window glazing.
Police remind people to protect their vehicles from becoming a crime statistic, especially on cold winter days.
“Typically at this time of year, we have an influx of vehicles being stolen as people let their vehicles warm up for extended periods of time, such as before going to work,” Strilaiff says.
“Vehicles are being stolen where preventative measures could have been taken, such as not leaving the key in the vehicle, locking the vehicle and not leaving valuables inside.”