Peterborough Police will launch a four-officer team this winter focusing primarily on property crime throughout its jurisdiction.
On Thursday, Peterborough Police Service chief Stuart Betts announced the Community-Focused Investigation and Response Support Team — or Community FIRST — with four frontline officers to address the increase in property crimes. The service says property crimes have risen the most of all crimes over the past five years, with a 28 per cent increase.
Beginning in January 2024, the year-long pilot program will have officers deployed in pairs to conduct investigations into thefts, mischief, shoplifting and stolen property in the city, village of Lakefield and Cavan-Monaghan Township.
“This program is in response to what we have been hearing from the community for several years when it comes to property crimes,” said Betts. “The voice and concerns of the community are being heard. We know property crimes have adverse effects on residents and business owners and we want to do a better job in responding to these types of calls. Our officers are busy responding to high priority calls each, and every day, which means that these types of calls get lower priority. It is frustrating for victims of crime, and it is frustrating for our officers who want to serve the community.”
Betts noted in the third quarter of this year (July to September), the service dealt with 785 incidents of property crime, of which shoplifting led with 299, followed by mischief (134 incidents), thefts from vehicles (130 incidents) and theft under $5,000 from an individual (118 incidents).
There have also been 56 incidents of bike theft and 28 incidents of drivers not paying for gas at a station (gas drive-offs) over that three-month span.
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Comparatively for all of 2022 there were 585 incidents of mischief, 732 thefts from vehicles, 495 shoplifting incidents, 156 bicycle thefts and 638 incidents labelled “other thefts.”
“We know that the Community FIRST officers will have no shortage of investigations, so we anticipate that it may take some time for the group to hit their stride,” police stated. “Ultimately, we hope that the results will be seen in returned property and charges against those who have committed these crimes.”
During a budget presentation to city council on Wednesday evening, Betts noted the longevity of the program could be contingent on whether council approves the Peterborough Police Services Board’s request for a $35 million budget for 2024 — a 15.3 per cent increase over 2023.
Betts this summer said an 11.4 per cent budget increase would be just enough “just to keep the lights on” in order to maintain the current level of service and not adequately address an increase in crime.
— More to come…
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