Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
The new year is off to a good start for police who report that New Year’s Eve in and around Brandon was relatively quiet.
You might expect crime to surge with all the flowing liquor but that’s not necessarily the case, said Brandon Police Service Const. Kirby Sararas.
“We definitely had enough officers to respond to all the calls for service,” Sararas said. “This year, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.”
The BPS logged 44 complaints overnight on New Year’s, compared to 49 last year.
The majority were alcohol-related in the form of breach of the peace matters or the need to detain drunks.
Extra officers were called in to run a holiday checkstop, but the lone suspected impaired driver was arrested after a vehicle got stuck on Kirkcaldy Drive on New Year’s Day.
There was a little excitement on Darrach Bay in the early morning of New Year’s Day.
A man who was drunk or high walked uninvited into a home after trying to break into another nearby residence. The owner and his family were home at the time, and he was just about to eject the intruder but police had already swarmed onto the property.
The cold may have helped keep things quiet.
Sararas said a bitterly cold New Year’s Eve may have kept would-be troublemakers at home.
Summers tend to be more busy, Sararas said. For example, during some summer nights city police handle about 30 per cent or more calls than they would on New Year’s.
It was also a quiet New Year’s for Blue Hills RCMP who have detachments at Brandon, Souris and Carberry.
Blue Hills RCMP members responded to 10 calls on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 — one non-party assault, a collision, traffic-related calls and a snowmobile complaint.
“Historically, the last number of years from the Blue Hills area we haven’t seen any real busy nights,” Staff Sgt. Mike Zens said. “New Year’s Eve is not generally a busy night for us.”
There was only one alcohol-related New Year’s report that involved a rowdy person at a house party east of the city. But the person left the home peacefully and no charges were laid.
No impaired driving suspects were arrested in the Blue Hills area, either.
Zens said there are fewer New Year’s socials than there used to be.
There are now more house parties and, if there are New Year’s socials, they tend to be attended by older partygoers whose wild days seem to be behind them.
There has also been a trend toward family-oriented, alcohol-free socials at community halls.
It seems New Year’s socials have been replaced by Boxing Day socials which tend to feature booze and bring a number of assaults, Zens said.
Most recently, there was an alcohol-fuelled fight at a Boxing Day social in Carberry.
» ihitchen@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition January 3, 2013
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The new year is off to a good start for police who report that New Year’s Eve in and around Brandon was relatively quiet.
You might expect crime to surge with all the flowing liquor but that’s not necessarily the case, said Brandon Police Service Const. Kirby Sararas.
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The new year is off to a good start for police who report that New Year’s Eve in and around Brandon was relatively quiet.
You might expect crime to surge with all the flowing liquor but that’s not necessarily the case, said Brandon Police Service Const. Kirby Sararas.
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