Lethbridge Police station. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

LPS’ new Crime Suppression Team hits the street

Jan 15, 2020 | 9:30 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A new team within Lethbridge Police Service is ready to get going.

Acting Chief Scott Woods told city council back in December that he wanted to create an “overt and covert unit” that is focused on the behaviours regarding lower-level drug dealing, property crimes, and break and enters.

In the time since, he has assembled a group of six non-frontline officers – including one Sergeant and five Constables – with the mission to “reduce violence and disorder, improve safety, and enhance the quality of life for Lethbridge residents.”

“We have seen the ongoing effects of the drug crisis on our community and we’ve heard the concerns raised by our citizens,” said Woods. “The Crime Suppression Team won’t be a cure-all, but having dedicated resources to enhance our street presence and strategically target the spin-off crime, public disorder and chronic offences that have resulted will have an impact.”

For the area immediately surrounding the Supervised Consumption Site, there was nearly a 6000% increase in calls for service between the periods of March 2017 and February 2018 to March 2018 and February 2019.

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The downtown core and the neighbouring parts of north Lethbridge also saw a 253% spike in calls for service during this time.

Not every call for service is necessarily a crime. In some cases, it could count for things like a medical issue or an overdose.

However, offences like street robberies, assaults, thefts, and commercial break-ins have risen the most in these areas, while police continued to respond to reports of disturbances, suspicious persons, and property-related crimes throughout the city.

“The new team is committed to making a difference and I am confident they will work hard and in time we will see positive change.”

The team members consist of staff already employed by LPS.

Woods told police last month that he wanted to eventually hire up to eight police officers to replace the ones that comprise the Crime Suppression Team.