Three Rivers council calls for action on crime prevention report

Three Rivers council has voted unanimously to make five recommendations from a new crime prevention report a priority for the next council.

The decision came after Chris Giacomantonio, director of the Clairmont Centre for Community Safety Research, presented a crime prevention needs assessment to council on Oct. 13.

The report found that Three Rivers does not have an unusually high crime rate compared to other areas of P.E.I., despite earlier statistics suggesting Montague had one of the highest crime rates in the province.

Giacomantonio said the earlier figures were misleading because of a problem with the population numbers used to calculate Montague’s crime rate.

“What I came to understand was the area does not appear to have actually a very high crime rate,” he said.

He said the town’s crime rate appears to be about average for P.E.I. and the Atlantic region, although the available data does not allow for an exact calculation.

However, the report identified some areas of concern like high rates of impaired driving and an increase in less serious violent crimes, such as threats and common assault.

Giacomantonio said impaired driving rates in the Three Rivers area were high compared to other parts of the province and Atlantic Canada.

The report also found that violent crime increased steadily between 2015 and 2020, although similar trends were seen across Canada.

The assessment was supported by P.E.I.’s Department of Justice and Public Safety after concerns were raised about reported crime statistics.

Mayor Debbie Johnston thanked him for the presentation and said council had been concerned when it first saw the crime statistics.

“We were quite astounded when we first saw those statistics,” Johnston said.

She said it was upsetting to think the town had such a high crime rate and thanked Giacomantonio for taking a closer look at the numbers.

During the discussion, several councillors raised concerns that drug-related crime was not receiving enough attention.

Coun. Alan Munro said he was surprised drugs did not feature more prominently in the presentation.

“I feel this one’s gone under the radar for quite a while here in Three Rivers,” Munro said. “It’s a real issue here, and for that not to come up anywhere in the rankings or trends, I think that needs to be looked at.”

Munro said he would like to see the local RCMP place more emphasis on drug-related activity.

Giacomantonio responded that drug concerns were included in the full report, although they were not a major part of his presentation.

He said several stakeholders had raised concerns about the growing presence of synthetic drugs, including fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

“It’s not reflected as much in the statistics, but that’s often the case with drugs,” he said.

Coun. Wayne Spin also raised concerns about drugs, saying he believed the problem could be worse than impaired driving in the area.

“I’d like to see a little more emphasis to that in Three Rivers,” he said.

Coun. Martina MacDonald agreed with the concerns raised by Munro and Spin.

“We know we have drug houses right here in our region,” MacDonald said. “And you know, it’s a problem when 14-year-olds are doing crystal meth.”

MacDonald said the town needed to act on the findings rather than allow the report to sit unused.

“We know the issues. We know what we need to do,” she said.

She said it was important for the next council to follow through on the recommendations.

Giacomantonio’s five recommendations include establishing a community-based crime prevention committee, strengthening communication with the RCMP, promoting local support services, helping address emergency housing needs and improving transportation options.

He said the town currently has no formal committee dedicated to crime prevention, unlike some other Island municipalities.

He also identified a need for emergency housing for people fleeing domestic violence.

Giacomantonio also recommended expanding transportation options to help reduce impaired driving.

MacDonald then moved a motion for the five recommendations to be made the first order of business for the incoming council.

Council voted unanimously in favour of the motion.

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Vivian Ulinwa is a reporter for The Guardian in Prince Edward Island. She can be reached at vulinwa@postmedia.com and followed on X @vivian_ulinwa.