Crash deaths up, drug crimes down, according to RCMP annual report

RCMP in New Brunswick saw an increase in fatal accidents and mental health calls last year, compared to 2018.

The force released their 2019 annual report Monday.

Overall calls for service were also upslightly for the RCMP last year with 124,094 requests, about 600 more than in 2018.

The RCMP saw even steeper rises when it came to fatal accidents.

In 2019 the RCMP in New Brunswick responded to 68 fatal accidents involving78 fatalities. In 2018, they responded to 60 fatal accidents with 67 fatalities, an increase of about 16 per cent.

There was also an increase in the number of off-road vehicle fatal accidents from eight in 2018 to 13 in 2019.

The RCMP also saw more fatalities related to alcohol or drug impairment, up from 19 to 25, an increase of 31 per cent.

Increase in mental health calls, homicide investigations

The force also responded to more mental health calls.

The report said the rate increased nine per cent from 2018 to 2019, with the RCMP responding to 4,900 mental health calls.

RCMP also saw a 25 per cent increase in the number of homicides investigated.

Drug crimes down

While the numbers for some crimes did go up, drug crimes appeared to be down across the board for the RCMP.

The overall drug crime investigation rate dropped by 36.24 per cent.

Trafficking decreased by 13.57 per cent, production by 50 per cent and possession by 60.48 per cent.

It's important to note that 2019 was the first full year with legalized cannabis in Canada.

The RCMP did report 137 violations of the Cannabis Act.

Indigenous, women representation

The number of Indigenous RCMP regular members remains unchanged from 2018 to 2019.

The RCMP reports that 6.8 per cent of regular members were Indigenous in 2019.

And the number of women working for the RCMP in New Brunswick fell over the year.

In 2018 43.5 per cent of RCMP NB employees were women, whereas in 2019 that percentage dropped to 36.8 per cent.

That number includes all RCMP employees, not just frontline officers.