OLDS — The Olds RCMP detachment is working to fight property crime to businesses, says Staff Sgt. Warren Wright, the detachment’s commanding officer.
Wright gave that assurance during an appearance before town council Feb. 26.
Coun. James Cummings raised the issue of property crime.
He conceded that property crime may not be as dangerous and threatening as other forms of crime, but issues such as petty crime, break-ins and vandalism are expensive and time-consuming for businesses to deal with.
“Just the other day, the window of the medical clinic that used to be Dr. Graff's clinic was smashed in by an apparent young drunken fool with a potted plant,” Cummings said.
He said as a result of that kind of crime, “our interest rate or insurance coverage is going up, our requirements from our insurance companies are getting more and more with demands for upgraded security systems and security cameras.”
In addition, Cummings said, staff have to take time from other responsibilities to “repair and clean up the messes that are being made by these alleyway junkies.”
As a result, Cummings asked what priority Olds RCMP assigns to petty crime.
“Because again, I agree with you, or I understand the RCMP’s position that it's not violent, there's nobody's getting hurt. But it's costing us a lot of money.”
Wright said RCMP address those concerns by finding ways to identify those individuals responsible for that crime.
“It could be regular repeat offenders in town, or it could be the one-offs. It just depends on the situation and circumstances and the location,” he said.
Once an investigation has been launched and the offender(s) identified, charges are laid, if possible.
If a sentence is imposed, then police monitor the offender to enforce conditions imposed by the legal system.
Wright said many of those offences occur at night. He said Olds RCMP are patrolling the community, but unfortunately, they may be in one place while the crime is being committed in another.
“If the alarm goes off, usually we're within five minutes of a response to that. That's the bonus of having the detachment in Olds, is such a quick response,” Wright said.
He offered to meet with members of the Olds and District Chamber of Commerce to discuss their concerns about crime.
