Music may have charms to soothe a savage breast, but there's nothing like a Flames playoff game to reduce crime in Calgary. Police credit the Flames with bringing the city to a near standstill during playoff games, and extra vacancies in the police jailhouse indicate crooks are taking a break from crime to watch the home team.

 

Better yet, law-abiding citizens aren't getting carried away either, say cops.

 

"Most people are in a good mood," observed Staff Sgt. Robb Befus, of Calgary Police Service's arrest processing unit.

 

"It seems everyone is having fun and not being stupid or trying to beat people up and it's amazing to see the whole city acting like that."

 

The Arrest Processing Unit is the home to the city's temporary cells and the infamous drunk tank.

On normal nights there are about 30 people in the miserable cells of the drunk tank.

 

But on Saturday -- after a Flames victory over the Detroit Red Wings -- there were only about a dozen sleeping it off under the watchful eyes of APU officers.

 

Yet the dramatic drop in the number of people needing a place to stay courtesy of the CPS isn't the only indicator of a noticeable drop in crime during the playoffs -- break and enter crimes also seem to fall off during the games, said Jeff Bye, executive vice president of Stealth Alarm Systems Inc.

 

"We've noticed a drop in alarm calls that starts about an hour before the games," he said.

But it's during the action on the ice when the most significant numbers appear.

 

"During the game, the calls drop by 21 percent," Bye said.

 

"Then, two hours after the game is over, the normal pace resumes."

 

Some crimes do drop, said Calgary police Insp. Al Redford,

 

"But I wouldn't say all reportable crime is down."

 

However, disturbance-type crimes do seem to be affected when the Flames are on the ice.

 

"People are intent on the games and the attitude is focused there," Redford said.

And, regardless if the Flames are victorious or not, it's a win-win situation for cops and citizens.

"If the team wins, there's a bit of rowdiness, sure, but it's a happy rowdiness that doesn't cause us a problem," Redford said.

 

"If the Flames lose, people kind of sulk home and wait for the next game."