RCMP issue anti-crime reminder

Homeowners in rural areas can take simple steps: police

Rural homeowners can feel safe in their seclusion, leading to habits where cars and homes are left unlocked, something criminals easily use to their advantage. Although rural property crime is trending down, the RCMP says homeowners should remember to “not feed the crooks.”

According to data provided by the RCMP, property crime was down by eight per cent in RCMP jurisdictions provincewide. In rural detachments, property crime is down 10 per cent and, for municipal detachments, it is down six per cent.

This means 480 fewer homes were broken into last year compared to the previous year, 1,257 fewer vehicles were stolen and there were 3,442 fewer thefts.

Heat maps provided by the RCMP show between last August and February, the most common areas for non-violent crime outside of Edmonton include St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan, Sherwood Park, Leduc, Stony Plain and Spruce Grove.

These areas indicate areas where there is the greatest concentration of people.

“If the question is, where is there activity, the answer is, it’s not a surprise to see it where people are or things are,” said RCMP Const. Julian Celms of the Leduc Crime Reduction Unit.

The rule of thumb, Celms said, is 80 per cent of crime is done by 20 per cent of the people committing crimes.

“When we put our attention on the 20 per cent, then we will see large reductions elsewhere,” said Celms.

“Who are the prolific offenders? Who are those individuals who are constantly going to commit crime? Those individuals are our targets and we’ll hold accountable.”

The most common rural crime includes theft of vehicles, snowmobiles, ATVs, small tractors and power tools — anything criminals can make a quick buck off of.

Often, people unwittingly provide criminals with “low-hanging fruit.”

To help combat this, the old habits of leaving property and vehicles unlocked needs to change.

“When I’m off doing presentations I have a couple of officers check all the cars in the parking lot,” said Celms.

“Every single time there are cars that are unlocked, cars with valuables, maybe a cellphone, cash or change in the console, things someone is going to want to take.”

Last year, Celms said the Leduc RCMP did its own internal study of stolen vehicles.

“We found 40 per cent of the vehicles that were stolen were left with the keys in them,” he said.

“Our bad guys have a taste of how easy it is to commit crimes sometimes in rural areas.”

Celms said it’s important for those who live in rural areas to lock up.

“I had one (break and enter) where the property owner on this large farm probably had at least a dozen outbuildings. They were all locked up except for the one that had the keys in it,” said Celms.

“They had the keys to the castle, they could do whatever they wanted.”

Property owners should also have good lighting and make it difficult for people to come onto the property by installing a gate, for example.

He even recommends planting rose bushes underneath windows to act as a deterrent for would-be criminals.

Celms adds people should explore “the tactical ways you can use your property to your advantage and a disadvantage to the bad guy.”