Several Alberta municipalities have seen a significant rise in property crime, according to RCMP statistics.
During the first six months of 2023, Airdrie RCMP reported a 73 per cent increase in break and enters compared to the same period in 2022. In Lac La Biche, the number of break and enters and stolen vehicles were both up more than 40 per cent in the first half of this year.
Cpl. James McConnell of the Airdrie RCMP municipal detachment said there are a couple of factors that could be contributing to higher property crime.
“We've had a substantial increase in population, which brings increased crime,” McConnell said. “It seems like it's not proportional, but we would expect to see an increase in that type of crime with an increase in population.”
McConnell also noted that behind these statistical jumps there are sometimes only a handful of people committing a string of offences.
Businesses in Lac La Biche’s industrial district have been particularly hard hit by break-ins and thefts. To contend with crime, business owners have started banding together to share information and push for change.
“This is basically a neighbourhood watch, but also to help one another,” said Darrell Cadieux, owner of an oilfield service company in the Sentinel Industrial Park in Lac La Biche County.
Cadieux and others use the instant messaging platform WhatsApp to track suspicious and criminal activity and keep tabs on what each other is doing to help fend off thefts, he said.
In one case where thieves cut through the chain link fence in an industrial lot and tried to steal a vehicle, Cadieux noticed on video from his surveillance system the truck that dropped them off had fled down an unblocked exit road out of the park.
“I showed that information to the county and that same day they blocked that road with cement barriers,” he said. “What we're trying to establish here are different methods to deter these thefts.”
The WhatsApp group started in 2019 with a few like-minded businesses. Following the lull in thefts observed during the COVID pandemic, interest from business owners ballooned alongside rebounding crime rates.
“During COVID things kind of simmered down a bit. But then, my gosh, last fall it started taking off and from there we’ve just about tripled in the county. We’ve got everybody in both these industrial parks, and I’ll probably expand it a bit larger,” Cadieux said.
“It's important because just knowing what is going on with your neighbours gives you a little bit of knowledge and some peace of mind in some respects.”
Cadieux noted that federal supports like CERB temporarily eased economic hardships for some in the region.
"But after that money petered out, and the area is has slowed down economically, it makes it tougher," he said.
"We don't have a lot of industry around here. Jobs are a little bit more difficult to obtain. I think what we've experienced here is just a kind of hopelessness. Probably in some ways that's a contributing factor (to the rise in property crime)"
Lac La Biche County recently approved installation of improved lighting in the Sentinel Industrial Park to deter would-be-thieves, said Coun. John Mondal. While county officials and law enforcement are doing what they can to help businesses, there are underlying issues driving the rise in crime local administrations alone can’t resolve, he said.
“Inflation has a lot to do with it. Job losses have a lot to do with it,” Mondal said.
“And this is catch and release. Which means the RCMP does their job, they bring the person to the justice system, but then they get released. That is one of the major factors.”
Mondal said he and other leaders from Alberta municipalities plan to push for justice system reforms to address the problem of repeat offenders at meetings with law enforcement and justice officials this fall.
While the spate of break-ins has taken its toll on local businesses, it has also fostered a greater sense of unity among those being targeted. Cadieux said that since starting the community watch, he has noticed more people getting to know their neighbours, and even competing businesses setting aside differences to work together on shared problems.
“You'll see that in life. You'll have two guys that are vicious. Their families won't talk to each other. But when they're being attacked by an outside source, then they come together,” he said.
