Citizens Seek Answers On Rising Crime

Dec 4, 2018 | 12:35 PM

Concerns about rising crime in Enderby have been aired before city council and the RCMP.

A group of about 20 residents attended Monday’s meeting, looking for answers over an increase of thefts from homes, vehicles and businesses.

“It makes people scared, upset, violated. They feel violated for sure and emotional,” concerned resident Lori Heins told Global News. “On the Facebook group I have, people were really emotional and they wanted to come down. And we just needed to have the emotion taken out of it, so we can get some clarity.”

Photo of Lori Heins at Enderby council, courtesy of Global

Resident Sean Hamilton says someone tried to steal his Bobcat tractor, and a lot of ATV’s, bikes and snow machines have been stolen.

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Mayor Greg McCune feels everyone understood the process better after the discussion

“Looking at social media through-out the day, it looked like the mood was a bit chaotic, and people were talking vigilante, and solving things on their own, but when they showed up at the meeting, it was awesome. They had picked out a speaker to speak on their behalf which actually allowed them to get more questions in,” McCune tells Beach Radio News.

McCune says the residents were looking for clarity on how the RCMP service works in the community of 3,000.

“I think everybody, at the end of the night, kind of understood a little bit better, the process.”

McCune says with the police doing what they can, it comes down to residents being more pro-active in securing their valuables, and reporting any incidents or suspicious activity to police.

“A lot of things can be done locally, like a lot of the cars that are gone through are unlocked, so try not to leave valuables in cars, try to lock your vehicle. If you have a bike, chain it to your patio, your porch, or to a tree, so I think that was positive.”

The mayor says there is a couple forms of crime that are happening.

“There is the crime of necessity, where people are, whether it’s an addiction-based thing, or its actually organized, where guys literally head out in the morning and their intention is to go steal from people.”

Mayor McCune tells Beach Radio, it’s important for residents to call police if they are the victim of a crime, or if they see anything suspicious: