Surge in Property Crime in Rural Southwest New Brunswick, say RCMP

While Charlotte County has long been known as a peaceful haven where doors stay unlocked, a recent surge in property crimes has sent shockwaves through the community.

According to Corporal Jayson Hansen of the RCMP, officers rushed to respond to approximately five break-ins in St. Andrews in a single night just last week.

"Recently, we have seen a sudden spike in break and enters to sheds and other outbuildings in St. Andrews," said Cpl. Jayson Hansen with RCMP. "In Charlotte County in general, there has been an increase in property crime that we noticed since last summer. Some are aware that certain manhunts were underway earlier this year for certain persons for property crimes that are in custody. However, the trend seems to have continued. And, on the 27th and 28th, we saw a spike of about four or five reported break-ins or suspicious incidents right in the town of St. Andrews involving sheds and garages."

Video surveillance footage obtained by CHCO sheds light on the brazenness of these criminals. In the early hours of February 27th, footage from a security camera captured two individuals rifling through a residential garage in St. Andrews before hastily leaving after realizing the homeowners were home. Hansen says that a significant portion of property crimes in rural Southwest New Brunswick are perpetrated by opportunistic criminals who lack sophisticated break-in tactics, instead targeting unlocked doors and readily accessible entry points.

"The biggest thing that we found was a lot of these buildings were not secure or locked," said Hansen. "And while no one has any right to be on your property or be in it, the best thing someone can do to protect their home is what we call target hardening to prevent crimes of opportunity. And that's what we're seeing, that even though four or five might have been attempted or broken into, there probably were more attempted. But if they were secure-- we tend to have in Charlotte County, say, lazy criminals, but they tend to go for crimes of opportunity. So if garage doors, cars are left unlocked, we've had incidents of theft in the greater Charlotte County area vehicles. In many of the cases, the vehicles were stolen with keys that were left in the vehicle. We don't have the sophisticated criminals doing the type of crimes that you're seeing in Ontario and Quebec using remote systems yet, but that's certainly something that we could expect to see. As trends start in the west, they do tend to move east, and I realize that many grew up in Charlotte County in the days where you could keep your doors unlocked and cars unlocked. Unfortunately, those days are long gone."

Although local RCMP are doing their best to respond to break-ins, the battle against crime doesn't end with law enforcement. The ultimate fate of perpetrators lies in the hands of the judicial system.

"As police, all we can do is investigate, make arrests and recommend charges to the Crown. Once charges are approved and laid, it really goes before the courts and that's how it works in the democratic system," said Hansen. "I can't speak to what penalties depending on the person's history, the number of offences. Obviously the criminal code says the maximum penalty for breaking into a residence is 25 years imprisonment, but realistically it would be a lot lower."

CHCO asked Hansen about the additional challenge posed by the absence of a courthouse in Charlotte County. He acknowledged that the necessity of officers traveling to Saint John for hearings can strain resources and divert attention from policing duties.

"I certainly don't want to speak to the political aspect of the decision, but certainly it is a logistical consideration," said Hansen. "Our members do have to spend time in transporting prisoners to Saint John and for going to court, so certainly that is added to our daily task hours."

-Vicki Hogarth, CHCO-TV NewsBreak26, St. Andrews, New Brunswick