Overall crime declines sharply across Ponoka RCMP jurisdiction

PONOKA COUNTY -- Overall criminal code violations have fallen sharply across the Ponoka RCMP jurisdiction. 

This is according to the detachment's Q3 crime statistics for the months of October, November, and December 2025. The data shows that there was a total of 38 criminal code violations during the quarter, marking a 46 per cent decrease from the 70 incidents recorded during the same period in 2024. The significant reduction in overall crime marks a five-year low for the Ponoka RCMP jurisdiction, which covers the Town of Ponoka as well as a majority of Ponoka County, excluding Rimbey. 

In terms of persons crimes, there were just five incidents recorded in Q3 2025 -- two for assault, two for harassment, and one for a sexual offence. This is down from sixteen incidents recorded during the same period in 2024. Property crimes also fell substantially from 46 incidents in Q3 2024 to 27 during the same period last year. The drop was mostly attributed to fewer instances of fraud, theft over $5,000, and mischief-property damage.

Another noteworthy piece from the Ponoka RCMP's latest data is the reduction in calls for service under the Mental Health Act. During the last quarter, there were just five of these such incidents, down from twenty during the same period in 2024. One of the categories that did see an increase from October through December was injuries caused by motor vehicle collisions.