By Justin Goulet

Alberta RCMP urge more use of online crime reporting tool

Jan 6, 2021 | 10:50 AM

EDMONTON, AB – Alberta RCMP are urging residents in rural areas to utilize the online crime reporting tool.

In May 2020, Alberta RCMP launched the tool and since then, between May 31 and November 30, there have been over 780 reports submitted through online crime reporting.

“We are encouraging all Albertans to report eligible crimes (select property crimes under $5,000) because reporting less serious crime helps emergency call takers and frontline members focus their time on high-priority calls,” the RCMP stated in a release.

“It is also a very convenient way to add your report and even include photos of your stolen or lost property.”

The RCMP noted that more reports have been made in urban areas then rural.

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“These reports assist us in crime analysis, aids us in establishing trends and patterns, and ultimately leads our investigators to the chronic offenders. It also assists us in making decisions about how and where to deploy resources,” reads the release.

“Crimes reported online will be taken just as seriously as crime reported in any other way.”

The Police Reporting and Occurrence System (PROS) Data Centre processes all online crime reports.

It’s a centralized data centre team that handles records management and routine data entry to allow frontline officers to focus on policing communities, and not doing administrative work.

From December 1, 2019 to November 20, 2020, the PROS Data Centre took on over 58,500 requests, which saved officers approximately over 20,000 hours of time in front of a computer.

Of those requests, more than 780 came from online crime reporting.

Once the PROS Data Centre processes the reports, they are sent to the Call Back Unit (CBU), which is a team of RCMP members designed to handle non-emergency calls for service in an effort to create efficiencies in the service.

The CBU diverted and answered over 8,300 calls for service between December 1, 2019 and November 30, 2020. That’s the equivalent of approximately 22,300 hours of service or 18.5 General Duty Constables’ workloads over the past 12 months.

“Our number one priority is the safety and security of the public and our officers,” stated the RCMP.

“We are committed to providing the most effective, efficient policing possible and being responsive to the ever-changing policing needs in Alberta.”

The online crime reporting tool can be accessed here.