Airdrie RCMP say there’s been an increase in the number of sexual assaults reported in Airdrie and the increase is higher than the surrounding community.

At the City Council meeting Monday night, RCMP detachment commander Inspector Kimberly Pasloske said the incidents have gone up 273 per cent compared to the southern Alberta area which saw an increase of 142 per cent.

“That wide-scale increase in sexual assaults (for southern Alberta) is really about societal awareness,” Pasloske said. “It’s about the "me too" movements, that 142 per cent isn’t any different than anywhere else.”

However, Airdrie has seen a big shift in the number of cases. Pasloske says the number of incidents of domestic sexual assault has increased significantly from five in 2014 to 13 so far this year. The Inspector says the increase is partially due to some changes in the way these incidents are being recorded and dealt with by RCMP.

“That is a considerable increase. Back when I was first a member, there wasn’t really a thing for sexual assaults in a domestic relationship. Now, we are recognizing that there is and we are scoring that, we are addressing that as it happens.” Pasloske explained.

There has also been an increase in the number of child sexual assaults that have been reported to RCMP, from three to nine. But, Pasloske says most of the claims were unfounded.

“I actually had our analysts look into why we had these increases, many of these reports were made by concerned third parties and resulted in unfounded, unsubstantiated or insufficient grounds to proceed. Meaning, when we investigated we couldn’t find sufficient grounds to proceed,” she said.

Pasloske also took the time during her presentation to Council to highlight the diligence of the domestic violence unit in investigating these incidents to ensure the offenses are dealt with properly.

 

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