Yellowknife (Oct 06/04) - Overall, crime in the city was down this summer, compared to the year before, according to the RCMP.

Sgt. Steve McVarnock appeared before city council Monday and reported the crime rate for August was down 10 per cent, with similar numbers for much of the summer.

He said the detachment responded to 793 reported offenses during the month of August, compared to 1,044 in August 2003.

It's a huge difference from last spring, when McVarnock reported that crime in the first quarter was up 28 per cent over the previous year.

McVarnock said he believes increased efforts downtown have gone a long way to reducing calls to the RCMP.

"We tried our best to concentrate on the downtown core through the summer time, especially through events such as Raven Mad Daze, where we saturated the downtown core with members," said McVarnock.

"It was a very quiet weekend in terms of police activity."

On the flip-side, however, RCMP found many street people were moving out of downtown and into other areas, like Frame Lake and Stanton Plaza.

He said it's something the RCMP will have to look at.

"We're working daily with Community Wellness (Coalition), the city; looking at options as to how to deal with providing other locations for people to go to during the daytime versus the downtown core," said McVarnock.

McVarnock also credited the Citizens on Patrol program -- launched this year -- for helping police city streets.

City councillor Bob Brooks said street people will likely remain a chronic problem in Yellowknife.

"There is a segment of the population that will refuse to partake in any of the assistance that we provide," said Brooks.

"I think that's going to happen regardless of what you do. I don't know that we can do much more than that other than continue to talk to the community and try and come up with better solutions."