COCHRANE – The month of August brings with it a lot of things— The August long weekend, the dog days of summer ushering in the beginning of the seasonal change and an unusual spike in vehicle-related crimes.
According to the RCMP’s crime statistics, August is the busiest month of the year for vehicle-related break-ins and car thefts.
In 2019, according to the annual Mayor’s Report, which was presented by the RCMP to Cochrane Town Council on July 13, there were 113 thefts from motor vehicles, and 46 vehicles stolen in Cochrane alone.
August of 2019 saw more than 1,000 vehicle thefts and more than 1,300 thefts from motor vehicles in Alberta RCMP jurisdiction.
For the entire year, there were more than 12,200 reported thefts from motor vehicles, and close to 10,000 vehicles stolen.
The 2019 Mayor’s Report also indicates that property crime, which includes vehicle theft and break-ins, are particularly tricky cases to solve.
“You usually find out about them after the fact, right? When the calls are received in most cases the crime has already occurred,” said Cochrane RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff.
Often times the RCMP will follow up on property crimes by checking doorbell, or security camera footage, or if the victim’s credit cards have been used at a nearby business, RCMP will follow up there as well.
Savinkoff said that many of these types of crimes are committed by offenders who come into Cochrane from elsewhere.
“We’ve had about two or three successes where we’ve followed up on some crime groups, almost exclusively out of Calgary, that will steal a car and come into our community and commit these offenses,” he said.
In these cases, RCMP members have to ask themselves why this pattern of crime happens the way it does, said Savinkoff.
“I feel like one of the major causes of that is because in small townspeople are either trusting or there’s a higher degree of people who don’t secure their doors,” he said. “That makes this type of crime very easy for people.”
Savinkoff said he likes to use the analogy of bear-safety in wild spaces. Removing the attractants from an area is likely to reduce the conflict between bears and people. Property crime follows a similar principle, he said.
“If we can, as a community, lock our doors and make it difficult for offenders to come into our community, that will keep them away.”
He noted that for vehicle break-ins specifically, many offenders wouldn’t smash a window of a car unless they see valuables inside that they can quickly grab. Keeping your vehicle free of visible valuables is a good way to deter a break-in.
“We as a community need to make our area less desirable for them,” he said.
There are a number of things residents of Cochrane can do to curb some of the vehicle-based crime happening in the community.
A press release from the RCMP indicates that keeping doors locked, removing or keeping valuables out of sight, removing the garage door opener from your car, using a steering wheel lock and parking in well-lit areas that are visible from your home, are all important steps you can take to reduce your chances of being a victim of vehicle theft or break-in.
