Impaired driving, thefts among top crime concerns for P.E.I. residents: survey

The Charlottetown Police Services building in Charlottetown, P.E.I., is pictured. (Source: Facebook/Charlottetown Police Services)

A 2024 survey on policing in Prince Edward Island revealed more than half of all residents feel crime has worsened in the last year, with impaired driving and thefts topping the list of concerns.

The online Public Survey on Policing was conducted from June 20 to July 18, 2024, engaging with 926 respondents.

The survey says 79 per cent of respondents mentioned impaired or dangerous driving as a top concern while 73 per cent cited theft from homes or vehicles as a major worry.

Other big concerns were property crimes (67 per cent), feeling safe walking at night (38 per cent) and feeling safe walking alone (33 per cent).

While the survey found that 62 per cent of respondents trust the police, 34 per cent of them are dissatisfied with their handling of substance use, addiction and mental health issues. Thirty-six per cent are neutral on the matter.

The survey noted concerns with insufficient efforts to stop public drug use and lack of enforcement or accountability as reasons for dissatisfaction.

“As our provincial population continues to grow, so too do the demands on our public safety community to keep our residents out of harm’s way and call our Island one of the safest places to live and raise a family,” said Deputy Premier and Minister of Justice and Public Safety Bloyce Thompson in a news release. “Over the past year, we have launched several initiatives to continue to drive collaboration amongst our policing agencies and directly combat illicit activities and drugs, namely the recently launched Joint Enforcement Team which has participation from the RCMP, Summerside Police and Kensington Police.”

Roughly four-in-10 residents believe police are doing a good job overall.

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