The Portage la Prairie RCMP paid a visit to the RM of Portage council meeting earlier this week.

A quarterly report was presented covering October to December of last year, and a comparison was shown with the previous three months. Some numbers were up, others down, and some showed quite drastic differences.

Here's Inspector Jarrid St. Pierre.

"Persons crime was up a bit -- from 21 to 24. Property crimes were up about a third from 22 to 31. Theft of motor vehicles was relative, with a slight increase there. It's the same with break-and-enters."

St. Pierre explains mischief acts of crime were down half compared to the previous three months, and it was the same with traffic violations. He adds collisions increased about two and a half times due to the severe weather conditions the region experienced for several days.

"Reported impaired drivings were down from 24 to 14. Provincial federal statutes were down almost half. Other criminal offences that were reported to us were relative -- common police activity. So, reports and general inquiries -- that kind of stuff -- was down a little bit as well."