The Grande Prairie RCMP has shared some statistics regarding its plainclothes operations in the city, which officials say were quite busy in 2024.
According to police, the GP RCMP General Investigations Section handles the “most serious” and complex investigations in the area. GIS also supports frontline policing work to aid them through more “comprehensive” investigations. Last year, GIS plainclothes officers assisted in 269 investigations, advancing Grande Prairie’s most serious cases.
Plainclothes members from the Grande Prairie Special Investigations Unit, which specializes in sexual and intimate partner violence cases progressed nearly 1,200 investigations throughout the past year.
Meanwhile, the Grande Prairie RCMP’s Drug Section progressed more than 176 investigations, seizing kilograms of illicit substances, and thousands of units of others.
The RCMP highlights several significant seizures from 2024 including a total of 2.9 kilograms of cocaine, 792 grams of fentanyl, 15,000 pills confirmed to be the highly-potent synthetic opioid- Isotonitazene, more than $120K as proceeds of crime, four handguns, two sawed-off shotguns, and one rifle. Police say these seizures led to 69 criminal charges and the arrest of 22 individuals.
The local Crime Reduction Unit, which focuses its enforcement efforts in crime hotspots, assisted in more than 646 investigations in 2024, resulting in the seizure of 16 guns related to crime, 700 grams of cocaine, 2.1 kilograms of meth, and $40K as proceeds of crime. These investigations resulted in 40 people being charged for drug, property, and firearms offences, and the recovery of 55 stolen vehicles.
The RCMP maintains these numbers are directly related to plainclothes members operating in Grande Prairie and do not include statistics from frontline operations.
