At Monday's digital City Council meeting, a report involving how police have been servicing the community through the COVID-19 pandemic was read to provide insight into the RCMP role in the community.

The report discussed policing in Swift Current during May 2020. The statistics of which were compared to both that month in 2019 and 2018.

The report shared that some categories in the report such as hit and runs, fraud, theft under $5,000 and provincial traffic offences were all marginally down from last year.

They also say in the report that in May 2020, cases relating to the Mental Health Act, sexual offences, and assault were up compared to this time last year.

Staff Sergeant Garry Hodges with the Swift Current City RCMP presented the report to council at the meeting and shared why assaults may be up.

“Looking at those a little bit closer, this increase was attributed specifically to a few more domestic violence calls. I wouldn’t say it was out of control, but we did see a slight increase in that area.”

Hodges explained that statistics were hovering around their normal amount.

“Calls for service have remained relatively consistent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Provincial traffic enforcement staff lost a little bit in April, which was to be expected with the minimal amounts of traffic we saw out in the community.”

While policing is one part of the job for Swift Current City RCMP, Hodges shared that education is also something they were able to spread in the wake of the pandemic.

From March 19 to the 31 of May, 57 occurrences regarding COVID-19 were made. Fifteen different people were subject to monitoring, where it was mandated that police check in with them four times during their quarantine to ensure guidelines were being followed.

No charges spurred from those COVID-19 related calls.

In that same period, the police service also executed four search warrants relating to drug activities and seized firearms, drugs, cash, and stolen property.

City Councilors thanked Hodges for his, and the detachment's service to the community while the world around it is less than normal.

Swift Current Mayor Denis Perrault commended Hodges for his ability to keep a cool head during the situation.

In terms of personnel, the department is down one member while a replacement waits to sell their home in Nova Scotia before moving to Saskatchewan.