Rural residents are becoming prisoners

Re: Fighting rural crime isn’t simple, Letter, Nov. 8

JR Kenny seems to think that when an alarm goes off out here, 17 miles from the RCMP station, the police will come running. They do not. There are only one or two officers on duty for answering rural break-ins in all of Rockyview County. Even when there is a photo of the thieves and the vehicles they use, it is of no help because they wear masks and use stolen vehicles.

During the past 10 years, there have been huge changes in our rural areas. People have been forced to install high fences and locked gates, we lock our homes, our workshops, our barns and our vehicles. All these locks make our work more difficult and time-consuming, but these efforts do not stop the thieves.

It seems to me that we are the prisoners. Thieves know they can ignore alarms because the nearest neighbour is a mile or more away, they break the doors and locks, they drive through fences and gates. So, Mr. Kenny, you seem to know everything, come up with a real solution. JoAnn Jones, Rockyview County