Skip to content

Eyes and ears for the RCMP

Anyone who has been a victim of crime, even if it’s just petty crime, knows how unsettling it can be.

Anyone who has been a victim of crime, even if it’s just petty crime, knows how unsettling it can be. We all want to feel as though our home and personal belongings are our own and will be respected, and when these personal spaces are invaded, and things are taken or vandalized, it can make a person angry, unnerved, upset and frustrated.

While certain crimes are seeing decreases from last year’s numbers, citizens in the County of St. Paul and Town of St. Paul have reported experiencing theft under $5,000 and break-and-enters, two categories that have seen an increase from last year’s numbers to this date, according to Staff Sgt. Lee Brachmann.

This year, a couple of more violent crimes in town – including one where a man was shot just before Canada Day, and another altercation behind St. Paul’s post office that resulted in a man’s death – contribute to the general feeling that crime is on the rise, whether or not that’s statistically true.

Harder economic times may be partly behind a rise in certain types of property crimes, as town and county councils both wondered last week, but generally, there always seems to be more complaints of crime in summer, whether it’s of public drunkenness and vagrancy, vandalism, thefts, loud and raucous parties, reckless driving, etc.

Obviously, RCMP would like to be able to do patrols and be visible in the summer, and to this end, last year, they conducted bike and foot patrols in downtown, to wide acclaim. But RCMP also have major constraints on their time, and this year, Brachmann noted it has been harder to do those calls with officers constantly responding to reactive calls for help.

Vagrancy, homelessness and drunkenness are not problems that will get solved in a day, and some crimes are outside of our ability as individuals to control. But there are simple things we can do to increase our personal safety and the safety of those around us – including not leaving valuables in your vehicle, making sure your vehicles and home are locked, by not posting pictures of you being on vacation and letting people know your home is vacant. If you’re a parent of a young person, hold them to a level of responsibility of knowing who they’re with and when they’ll be home. Watch out for your neighbour’s home when he/she is away. If you see a suspicious vehicle or person lurking about, phone it in.

Our local RCMP may not be able to solve every complaint that comes their way, but as Brachmann said last week at town council, if RCMP don’t know about the problem, they can’t do anything. We can all be the eyes and ears for the RCMP, and hopefully for a safer town as well.




Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks