INUVIK - RCMP members were kept busy over the Easter weekend.

Officers responded to 83 complaints between April 1 and 4, compared to 56 during last year's four-day holiday weekend - an increase of 48 per cent.

Cpl. Kent Pike, who worked during that time, said police arrested 45 people. All have been released.

Cpl. Kent Pike said Easter weekend was the busiest weekend he's experienced since joining the Inuvik RCMP six months ago. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Two or three of the incidents were assaults and criminal code charges were laid. Everything else, he said, involved mostly mischief, disturbing the peace and liquor act violations.

Of the calls the detachment received, 95 per cent of them were alcohol-related.

Although he figured the warm weekend weather probably contributed to the sharp increase, he said there's no easy explanation.

"It's funny," said Pike. "It's hard to tell. When Inuvik hosted the IRC Cup (in February) we had extra officers on duty because more people were coming into the community. But it was probably one of our quieter weekends. There's no rhyme or reason."

Easter Sunday was the busiest day as officers dealt with 30 complaints.

Pike said it was the busiest weekend he's worked since starting the job six months ago.

He said he's encouraged that more and more residents are calling the detachment, which has been cracking down on people drunk in public.

"We want to make sure these people have a place to go," he said.

"But we've also been making a concerted effort to show residents we're trying to curb the alcohol problem.

"If we see someone drunk on the street, we know nine chances out of 10 this is going to cause a problem later in the evening."