RCMP in Grande Prairie are blaming the drug trade and the economic downturn for a dramatic spike in the number of armed robberies in the northern Alberta city.
“Prevalence of illicit drugs and the drug trade,” said Insp. Gibson Glavin. “And of course there’s also the economy as well, which plays a factor in how people are coping with their lives 24 hours a day.”
The city has seen 108 robberies in the first 11 months of this year, six times the number the city recorded in the same period in 2011.
(CBC)
Since the beginning of November, RCMP have sent out news releases on eight armed robberies in Grande Prairie, seven of which involved knives. The culprit in the remaining robbery used pepper spray.
The favourite target seems to be convenience stores.
No one was hurt in any of the holdups.
Glavin said the city isn’t seeing anything different than other municipalities in the province.
“Other communities are also experiencing increases of what we would consider to be violent crime like this,” he said. “Grande Prairie is by no means sticking out like a sore thumb.”
