Once the Kitimat RCMP took care of a group of youngsters in town who were bent on joyriding in people’s cars, vehicle thefts took a sharp dive.
That’s what the detachment’s new staff sergeant, Phil Harrison, told council as he presented the November 2012 crime statistics.
Vehicle thefts had gone up nearly seven times as many as there were in 2011, where there were only two for the whole year. This year there have been 13 to date.
The youth which Harrison referred to broke into about 70 vehicles he said, and he pointed out they were entirely crimes of opportunity.
“I can’t impress upon people enough that we have to remain vigilant,” he said, saying people need to lock their doors and move valuables out of sight.
The other area of note is an increase in vandalism to property, which has seen a nearly 50 per cent spike to 157 this year, compared to 105 in 2011. Harrison attributes the increase to an emphasis from RCMP for people to report vandalism, whereas it may have gone unreported in the past.
He said people need to report vandalism as quickly as possible, allowing RCMP to track where they are happening and to increase their efforts in those areas.
In other November statistics, there was one sexual assault and one aggravated assault for the month. There were three assaults with weapons or assaults causing bodily harm.
There were two businesses which were subjected to a break and enter, and six homes as well.
There were four vehicle thefts and eight cases of mischief to properties.
Three files were opened for people possessing cocaine, and two for “other drugs”, but zero for marijuana, ecstasy or meth. There was one case of trafficking cocaine.