Cranbrook’s bar scene was starting to get a bit of reputation as a dicey place to be in the past few years, thanks to several high profile incidents of extreme violence.

That has led to the formation of a Bar Watch Program, between city RCMP and, so far, 15 licensed establishments in the Key City.

And so far so good, as RCMP are reporting a “significant” decrease in violent incidents at city bars in the last quarter (April to June).

Corporal Pat Prefontaine, Cranbrook RCMP detachment A/Operations NCO, reported to City of Cranbrook council August 15 that police have “seen a significant decrease in cases of reported violence in the areas of licensed premises.”

Sub-heading the section of his report ‘organized crime,’ Prefontaine explained that three meetings with bar owners/managers has resulted in 15 establishments agreeing to take part in a ‘Bar Watch Program’ and they are currently developing protocols for working with police.

“The objective will be to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for the public and their staff,” he said.

When asked by Coun. Diana J. Scott if the 15 bars taking part in the program is “all or some” of the establishments in town, Prefontaine responded, “I think we’ve got the important ones on board.”

Mayor Scott Manjak said he appreciated the Bar Program being undertaken.

“I think it’s a very important initiative because of some of the activities going on inside some of the bars,” he said.

Overall, in terms of police activity in the city, the last quarter was fairly static in comparison to last year over the period, Prefontaine reported.

“From April 1 to June 30, we had 2,359 calls for service compared to 2,329 in 2010 – 30 more calls and up 1.3%,” reported Cpl. Prefontaine. “We have housed 415 prisoners to the end of June, compared to 602 in 2010 – down 31.5%. Of note are the very positive results of the false alarm bylaw. Year to date, to the end of June inside the city, we have seen a reduction from 108 billable false alarm calls in 2009, to 84 calls in 2010, and this year down to 56 billable false alarm calls for the same period – a reduction of 48.1% since 2009. The false alarm bylaw is working better than ever expected.”

Prefontaine told council that “person offences,” including assaults, sexual assaults, threats etc. are down 11.2% over the same quarter in 2010, with 158 investigated compared to 178 the year before.

Property related offences, such as break and enters, are also down over last year, with 368 between April and June compared to 404 in 2010.

However, police have recorded an increase in such Criminal Code offences as causing a disturbance, public mischief, harassing/obscene phone calls, breach/bail violations, firearms offences, obstruction and counterfeit currency, with 142 cases in the second quarter of 2010 compared to 173 this year.

Drug files are also down, Prefontaine told council, citing 42 files handled in the second quarter this year compared to 50 in 2010.

On the roads, there were no fatality accidents in Cranbrook during the second quarter of this year, mirroring the previous year. However, injury crashes are up more than 38%, with 25 so far this year compared to 18 last year at this time. (See related story on impaired driving charges.)

One area of increase is distracted driver charges, Prefontaine said, with 21 tickets issued in the last quarter.

City councilor Liz Schatshneider asked the corporal if those infractions were due to people using cell phones while driving and Prefontaine replied “yes.”

“Is it going down?” Schatshneider pushed.

“I don’t think so,” Prefontaine responded.

Another area the city detachment has focused on is “cyber bullying,” the corporal informed council.

“Cyber bullying presentations were delivered in a series of three sessions to grades four to 10, along with two ‘gang’ presentations to the senior high school,” he said.

Much of the cyber bullying seems to be centred around Facebook, Prefontaine continued.

“It’s stuff that wouldn’t necessarily be done if they were face-to-face with people,” he said, adding there have also been instances of ‘texting’ bullying.

Finally, Prefontaine reported that the detachment’s auxiliary constables have been busy in the last quarter, with auxiliary constables taking part in 16 events and putting in 275 volunteer hours.

In addition, four auxiliary constables making bike patrols, including taking part in the Fightermeet Airshow last month (pictured above).

A schedule for future patrols along the Rails to Trails pathway is also being formulated, Prefontaine said.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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