Top cop urges residents to properly store and lock up firearms

Property crimes are the highest they’ve been in five years, says Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds.

Dodds made his comments to county council during his quarterly report April 17 and said it is important to remember to properly store and lock-up weapons.

“We’re looking at a 50 per cent increase in property-related offences from last year and this is for the entire detachment coverage area, not just in the county. Last year we had 90 and we’re at 138 for the same three-month period,” he said, noting it has slowed down over the last four weeks.

“For whatever reason. These crimes are happening in spurts and that, to me, says we’re dealing with a traveling road-show and it’s hard for us to fight this.”

Dodds said the vehicle of choice for thieves remains super duty pickups.

“We’re doing what we can to keep an eye on this stuff but we aren’t having a lot of luck,” he said, noting there have been a handful of catalytic converter thefts in recent weeks and added it costs around $10,000 to replace one.

In addition, Dodds said break-and-enter offences are on the rise.

“We’ve had 30 reported so far, the highest in five years,” Dodds said, noting there were only eight such offences investigated over the same period last year.

“I don’t know if it’s a reporting issue, but the number seems a bit low to me. Thirty is consistent with what we are seeing. It’s everything from businesses to residences in town, rural homes and shops that are being hit. Thieves are taking whatever they can turn over.

“The recent trend in these types of crimes that is troubling is in firearms thefts. We investigated one reported incident recently at a rural property where a bunch of guns were taken and last weekend, a few were lifted from a parked vehicle as well.”

On a question from Coun. Walter Preugschas regarding whether the increase in break-and-enters were related to motor-vehicle thefts, Dodds said in many cases the two are directly related.

“In one incident, thieves broke into a house, stole what they wanted and then found the keys to a vehicle lying on the counter so they stole that as well,” he said, adding he does not understand the mentality behind such actions.

“A lot of it is joyriding, some of it is for parts. Some we find burnt, some are abandoned. It’s a mixed bag.”

Dodds said 21 vehicles had been stolen in the last three months.

“I’d hoped we would see a decrease but it doesn’t seem to be happening. A lot of these vehicles are used in other crimes. Virtually every single one we’ve recovered are filled with tools and tidy tanks, one even had a winch attached to it that wasn’t there when it was stolen. Our garage is full,” he said.