A publicly perceived increase in property crime will be addressed by Chase RCMP at an upcoming town hall meeting.
Sgt. Gary Heebner says he and Chase Mayor Rick Berrigan decided to host the public meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, April 22, at the curling rink, in response to posts made on social media suggesting there’s been an increase in crime within the community.
“The mayor contacted me about it and we decided a little town hall information session might be a good thing, especially for the elderly folk in town, you know, if they read or hear about some increase in crime, they tend to get concerned,” said Heebner. “So we decided we would… let people know what the crime rate is so they’re armed with facts instead of anecdotes, and we’ll go from there.”
Heebner says an RCMP crime analyst is in the process of compiling current statistics for the community in order to paint an accurate picture of what is actually happening in the community and how it compares to previous years.
“We can say, here are the crime stats for whatever period for the last year, compared to the five year average and that sort of thing, so we can actually get an accurate read instead of just the anecdotes, rumours and so on. We want to speak from a position of knowledge,” said Heebner.
The sergeant acknowledges police have seen an increase of property crimes, specifically crimes of opportunity – thefts from open or unlocked vehicles, backyard sheds, etc.
“In almost every case it’s been a matter of an open window on a car or unlocked car doors late at night,” said Heebner. “A surprising number of people leave their keys and wallets and cell phones in their cars, unlocked.”
Heebner says police will provide advice at the town hall meeting on how to best deter such criminal activities.
Regarding social media posters who may be leaning towards vigilantism approach, Heebner suggests doing something positive such as joining the community’s Citizens on Patrol.
“Get out there and patrol at night, observe and report to the police what they see,” said Heebner. “That would be very helpful. In fact, our Citizens on Patrol is always looking for new members. If they had new members that were willing – younger members – perhaps they could run overnight as well instead of just until a certain point in the morning. But yes, Citizens on Patrol is one way they can sort of positively direct their energy.”
As for suspects, while Chase has a small number of “usual suspects,” Heebner says investigations show it’s not always them. He noted a female youth was recently caught stealing from a vehicle and taken into police custody, to be later turned over to her parents. He said this was a surprise to him because it wasn’t someone he had in mind.
“It’s multi-layered, it’s not just one or two people that are doing all the crime…,” said Heebner. “It’s a challenge to try to figure out who is doing these things and actually coming up with the evidence and proof we need to take them to court. That’s a whole other thing.”
Again, Heebner recommends a proactive approach – locking doors, removing your valuables from vehicles, etc.
“It’s fairly simple stuff; the mantra, lock it or lose it comes to mind,” said Heebner.