The public perception of a rise in property crime isn’t backed up by the statistics, Wadena RCMP Sgt. Burton Jones says.

“It's actually falling. People have a tendency to believe it’s on the rise - the data shows for this province it’s actually on the downswing, which is good for us.”

The number of reported break-and-enters across the province fell 13 per cent last year, while thefts were down two per cent, he said.

Of the 87 Saskatchewan RCMP detachments, 59 saw fewer reports of break-and-enter, theft and mischief.

The trend broadly holds true for the Wadena decatchement as well, he said.

He acknowledges the disconnect between the perception and the data around crime could be because people aren’t reporting crimes they see. Those reports help police track trends in an area, he said.

“That’s one of our key messages - if you have theft, report it to the police. Even though you don't think anything can be done.”

That message was one of the topics covered at the town hall the detachment held in Wadena on March 8, attended by around 45 people.

“It actually went really, really well,” Jones said.

He also explained how the RCMP will tackle drivers impaired by cannabis after the drug is legalized this summer - and the process is far more complicated than the tests used for alcohol.

RCMP will have two main tools - a roadside saliva test and a field sobriety test, in which suspected impaired drivers complete tasks such as saying the alphabet backwards.

If the driver fails the sobriety test, they are seen by a drug recognition expert at the detachment, who would do further testing and take further samples to determine if the driver was indeed under the influence to the extent that their ability to drive was impaired.

At the moment, two of Jones’ officers are trained to perform the field test, and he has one drug recognition expert.

It’s not known which detachments will immediately receive saliva testing kits, he said.

People at the town hall also had questions about how they can protect themselves and their property, but he wasn’t able to give a single, straight answer.

The Criminal Code does allow Canadians to protect themselves, but the force used must be reasonable in the circumstances, Jones said.

“Our biggest message was, please phone the police. Don’t take matters into your own hands.”