Fort St. John RCMP reported an increase in arson-related property crimes and business break-ins in 2025, while residential break-ins declined.
Detachment commander Sgt. Jaime Moffat presented the RCMP’s annual report during Monday’s City of Fort St. John committee of the whole meeting, outlining crime trends and calls for service over the past year.
The detachment handled 11,462 calls for service in 2025, including 8,995 within the municipality and 2,467 in rural areas. That was down from 11,729 calls in 2024.
There were also fewer Criminal Code calls, with 4,019 recorded compared with the previous year. Those included 3,361 municipal calls and 658 rural calls.
While property crime declined overall, falling from 2,121 incidents in 2024 to 2,050 in 2025, offences against people moved in the opposite direction.
The report recorded 1,202 Criminal Code offences against people in 2025, up from 1,086 the year before.
Moffat said sexual offences were among the most notable increases, with 117 reports recorded across the city and rural areas.
“These investigations are among the most complex and sensitive files we handle,” she told council, noting they require significant investigative resources and victim support.
The report also recorded 394 common assaults, 215 reports of uttering threats and 136 assaults involving weapons in the city.
Robberies declined, with 24 reported in the city and none in rural areas.
Moffat said the detachment continues to see an overall downward trend in property crime, although some categories increased.
There were 17 arson-related property crimes in the city last year, up from 11 in 2024.
Business break-ins also increased to 73, while residential break-ins fell to 57 from 71.
Police recorded 179 vehicle thefts and 207 thefts from vehicles in 2025.
Public disturbance calls also dropped to 591 from 683 the previous year.
Councillor Trevor Bolin asked whether the decline could be connected to changes in the city’s experience with encampments, homelessness and mischief.
Moffat said proactive policing efforts have helped, while noting that how incidents are categorized can also affect the numbers.
Despite some declines in reported crime, Moffat said Fort St. John’s crime severity index increased, largely because of a rise in violent crime severity.
She pointed specifically to recent firearms-related incidents as a major concern.
Moffat said many of those incidents appear to have been targeted and are believed to involve people connected to criminal activity.
However, she acknowledged residents may not feel safer simply because they were not the intended targets.
“Gun violence occurring in our community affects public confidence and perceptions of safety,” Moffat said.
She identified addressing gun violence as the detachment’s top public safety priority.
Police recorded fewer impaired-driving violations in 2025, including 142 Criminal Code charges and immediate roadside prohibitions related to alcohol impairment or refusals to provide a breath sample.
When asked whether the detachment uses roadside alcohol screening devices, Moffat said it does not currently have that technology in operation.
Instead, the detachment has trained officers who can conduct field sobriety testing, as well as drug recognition experts who can investigate suspected drug impairment.
Police also recorded 70 Motor Vehicle Act driving prohibitions and 30 24-hour drug-related driving prohibitions.
Mental Health Act calls remained a significant demand on police resources, with 256 calls recorded in 2025.
Moffat said those calls often involve people in crisis and can require officers to transport individuals to hospital and remain there while they wait for an assessment.
The detachment also responded to 14 drug overdose calls and 16 fatal overdoses during the year.
Councillor Tony Zabinsky asked about the use of HealthIM, a mental health screening tool intended to help officers determine whether someone needs to be transported to hospital or could instead be connected with community-based supports.
Moffat said the tool was introduced in Fort St. John in June and is still being implemented.
She said it has already shown promise in reducing police wait times at the hospital and helping officers manage mental-health-related calls differently.
Moffat acknowledged that introducing a new system can add another task for officers, but said she expects its benefits to become clearer as staff become more familiar with it.
The Fort St. John detachment currently has 38 municipal members, 12 provincial members and three First Nations police members.
Moffat said crime statistics do not always capture how safe residents feel in their community.
She said that distinction is particularly important when it comes to violent and firearms-related incidents, which can affect public confidence even when the incidents are targeted.
“Those numbers don’t always reflect how safe residents are feeling in their community,” Moffat said.
