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Property crime leveling out

Barrhead’s top cop says in the first quarter of 2020 the number of property crime reported is the second-lowest in five years
Sgt. Bob Dodds quarterly report-cropped
Barrhead Sgt. Bob Dodds, pictured here at a Oct. 1 County of Barrhead meeting in October 2019, noted for the first time in a while property crime was on the downward trend. For the first quarter of 2020 the detachment dealt with 113 property crime files, the second-lowest total in five years.

BARRHEAD - Barrhead RCMP Detachment Commander Sgt. Bob Dodds had some good news for County of Barrhead councillors — property crime is down.

At least it is for the first quarter, January to March of 2020.

That is what Dodds told councillors April 21 during his regular quarterly report. For the second straight council meeting, it was held via video conferencing with the public able to watch via an Internet link.

"Property crime seems to have levelled-off," he said. "I'm not sure if it is due to the [COVID-19] situation, but we're happy to see it."

Not only did it level off, Dodds said, but the number of property crime files for the first quarter is the second-lowest total over the same time frame in the last five years.

Overall there were 113 property crimes reported in the detachment area, 28 of which were in the County of Barrhead. The detachment area includes Barrhead, a large portion of Woodlands County and a small corner of Lac Ste. Anne County.

The largest category was theft under $5,000 followed by B&E (break and enter), mischief to property, possession of stolen goods and motor vehicle theft at 50, 22, 13, 11, 8 and 5 respectively. The two lowest categories were arson and theft over $5,000 at two.

Dodds noted that the majority of vehicle thefts, which was the lowest total in five years, occurred in the previous week, with four pickup trucks in the County of Barrhead being stolen.

"We recovered all but one of them and we have charged one individual with the latest theft," he said.

Another category on the downward trend is the number of motor vehicle collisions (MVC) at 88 (59 of which were in the County of Barrhead). The total is the lowest in five years.

"It has to be because of the reduced travel as there are just fewer people on the road due to the coronavirus," Dodds said.

Unfortunately, he could not say the same when it came to person crime, which has seen a small spike. Person crimes are offences directly committed against people such as assaults and threats.

Dodds noted the increase in person crimes, with 56 being reported in the first three months, is against the trend he has seen in the last few years.

The largest categories being uttering of threats followed by assaults, criminal harassment, sexual assaults and other sexual related offences at 20, 16, 9, 6 and 4 respectively.

Except for uttering threats and the files related to sexually based crimes, all person crime categories were lower than they were for the same time last year.

"I don't have a reason why except for the possibility of the addition of the school resource officer (Const. Karen Vicente)," he said. "There have been a few disclosures made to her that perhaps wouldn't have been made otherwise, which is a positive thing."

Dodds added he isn't too concerned with the increases in those categories, especially in the case of uttering threat files with the vast majority being relatively minor.

"[As for the sexually related files] it isn't like we have an unknown perpetrator running around," he said. "In all these incidents we've identified a suspect and charges laid where appropriate."

Annual Performance Plan (APP)

The APP is a document that outlines the priorities of the detachment and is usually created with input from the municipalities it serves.

Part of the plan is dictated RCMP ‘K’ Division, being community engagement and crime reduction.

"The reason why is that these are the things they hear over and over again from communities across the province," he said.

Community engagement Dodds explained means the visibility and accessibility of RCMP members to the public.

He added, as part of the community engagement portion, he plans to continue to host two public town hall meetings a year, one being in the Town of Barrhead and one in either the County of Barrhead and Woodlands County along with regular visits to municipal councils.

Of course, the medium of the town halls may have to change due to COVID-19 at least in the short-term, moving away from large in-person meetings to video conferencing or social media.

On the crime reduction front, Dodds said a lot of gains can be made through public education.

"We will also continue to focus on targeting habitual offenders," he said, noting the majority of property crime is committed by repeat offenders.

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
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