Kimberley RCMP Detachment Commander Sgt. Steve Woodcox presented the 2024/25 fourth quarter report to Kimberley City Council at their meeting on Monday, April 28.
Woodcox highlighted three key objectives the RCMP, in consultation with their partners including the City of Kimberley, have identified for the 2024-25 fiscal year: traffic — specifically impaired driving — youth, and police-community relations.
He said calls for service were down seven per cent from the same period as last year. Eight reports were forwarded to Cranbrook Crown Counsel for charge approval during this quarter.
There were 344 total calls for service from January to March, 2025. Police stopped 100 vehicles at road checks, with seven Immediate Roadside Prohibitions issued and 31 tickets issued.
RCMP members made over 44 visits to local schools during the quarter to "interact and build relationships with local youth."
Woodcox also highlighted a few files of interest, including in January, when the Kimberley RCMP were called to respond to a male in crisis, who had threatened to burn down his condo building, resulting in the evacuation of several residences, and the response from the Containment Team and the Emergency Response Team (ERT). The individual eventually surrendered to police and was safely taken into custody after several hours of overnight negotiation.
Another was in February, when a female. had been granted a Protection Order against her partner by the court, stating he was to have no contact with her or their children. The male came to her home and took one of their children, before he was located, arrested and held in custody by police.
In March, Kimberley RCMP attempted to stop a pickup truck and the driver fled. The vehicle was located, with assistance from the Cranbrook RCMP, in Perry Creek near a dead-end road. There, it rammed a police vehicle several times. Three males were taken into custody.
In an interview later that week with the Kimberley Bulletin, Woodcox advised the public to report suspicious behaviour to the RCMP.
"What we have been seeing lately is some of the more known drug addicts, or property offenders, becoming more familiar in Kimberley," Woodcox said. "And the only thing I would suggest is that when the members of the public see something suspicious happen, it’s a good idea to call us, because sometimes that gives us the alert ahead of time that these certain things are happening in certain areas of town.
"The sooner we find out about where some of these individuals are frequenting, the quicker we can go and proactively try to deal with some of that. But we do see some more of that transient nature where some of those people are coming to Kimberley more often, whether it’s for drugs, or whether it’s for some other crimes, we just seem to see a little bit more of that frequently."
Woodcox noted that a Block Watch that was started by Kimberley residents in fall, 2024, is still being organized and he hopes it will continue to run into the future.
With regards to community involvement, the RCMP delivered over 10 hampers of food to individuals and families in the community, in partnership with a local church.
Members from the Kimberley RCMP regularly attend Garden View Village to serve coffee and meet with the residents, and then have plans to do the same at the Pines Retirement Home as well.
The Kimberley RCMP detachment is currently operating at 80 per cent of full capacity.
