A string of break-ins in the rural parts of Westlock County last month has local law enforcement urging residents to take extra precautions, like removing keys from their tractors and installing gates at the entrance to their property.
At a police advisory committee meeting Oct. 18, Cpl. Filip Vicente of the Westlock RCMP informed committee members that the area north of Clyde, and around Vimy and Dapp were all hit with several break and enters the day before, noting that thieves were venturing out in broad daylight.
“There was a ton of stuff that all hell broke loose,” Vicente said. “There were places getting broken into, issues on the grids, and then the day before it was north of Clyde. The last couple days the guys have been quite busy. Yesterday, most of it was during the morning.”
However, he cautioned residents about becoming vigilantes or using certain techniques, like spikes across the driveway.
“The issue with something like that is the moment someone gets hurt, who is going to be liable,” he pointed out. “The other thing is, like the (Vimy) area, when they drive into people’s yards, those vehicles are stolen. They’re not driving their own vehicles. Unfortunately you’re just damaging someone else’s vehicle in the process. It’s just a vicious cycle the last little bit.”
Dogs were a suggested tactic, but Vicente repeated his warning about liability.
Town Coun. John Shoemaker said he sensed that crime is more prevalent during the day and Vicente agreed that time doesn’t matter anymore and these are crimes of opportunity.
“The farmers were out and they leave their trucks on the edge of the highway and they jump on the combines and (then) we had a number of stolen trucks here,” Vicente said. “We were chasing a truck out of Redwater because it was down in Pickardville. In the rural area, a lot of it is probably happening during the day, because they’re smart enough to know they’re gone to work, or out in the fields or checking on the cattle. Especially for the break and enters, it’s all a daytime thing.”
He said on the morning of Oct. 17, someone came home as their shop was being broken into. The homeowner then used their own vehicle to try and block the thieves’ truck — which was likely stolen — but the thieves rammed into and damaged the homeowner’s vehicle before taking off.
“Sometimes by trying to apprehend these people you end up causing yourself more grief than anything else,” Vicente said.
Although there is no simple solution, he said educating rural homeowners is a start. Locking doors to the house and shop, and never leaving keys inside vehicles or tractors are easy deterrents. Breaking a window can be a big hassle for thieves, he noted, and loud alarms that are audible to neighbours could help catch criminals.
“People need to learn that times are changing,” Vicente continued. “It comes to a point in time where all we can try is to prevent it from happening as much as possible.”
Jim Turnbull, committee member and president of the Jarvie Citizens on Patrol (COP), said the patrol group decided at its last meeting that it would like more of a police presence in the area.
“I haven’t seen a police car in Jarvie in the last three months,” he said. “So we’re concerned and we think at least once a week, if we could have a drive through —slow — through Pibroch, Dapp, Jarvie, Fawcett and Flatbush and then come back through it again. The police in that area know where the trouble spots are, they know who is in those trouble spots, but those people up there are really running loose.”
He observed that criminals are going so far as to sport COP signs on their vehicles.
“They really are making fun of the serious position that the Citizens on Patrols are doing,” Turnbull said.
As well, the construction site near Jarvie was also hit three times, with thieves making away with radio equipment and batteries, and rifling through the workers’ vehicles to steal wallets.
“I know that the biggest deterrent is the presence of RCMP,” Turnbull repeated.
Besides thieves, Turnbull said he was also extremely disappointed when Westlock County nixed a speed bump proposal in the hamlet, despite a recommendation from then-staff Sgt. Dwayne Rawson.
With a new council on board, he hoped they would resurrect the idea, or at least consider a radar speed sign.
“They’re going through Jarvie at 65 and 70 miles an hour … they come over that hill and they really open’er up,” Turnbull said. “I hate a speed bump, I hate it with a passion, but I know we could put a speed bump for $500 on the streets of Jarvie. I don’t know what the price of a kid is if one of those kids gets hurt.”
