1,000 Signature Petition: Auto Theft

[Jets4Life]

"A co-operative strategy heralded for dramatic cuts in Winnipeg's auto theft problem over the last five years has won two international policing awards.

In a joint statement issued Tuesday, the province, the Winnipeg Police Service and Manitoba Public Insurance said the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATSS) has won honours from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Introduced in 2005, WATSS combines the efforts of police, probation officers, prosecutors and MPI to crack down on a subculture of city teens who habitually steal cars and drive them dangerously.

Another aspect of the program is a mandatory immobilizer initiative for vehicles deemed most at risk of being stolen.

From a policing point of view, the core of the program involves analyzing data regarding teens identified as the most chronic auto-theft offenders. Police found that when a hard-core group of these teens were in custody, the rate of auto theft dropped. By strictly monitoring these youths while out in public and enforcing any court order breaches, streets became safer."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...wards-1.869629

In 2004, Winnipeg had the highest rate of auto theft of any Canadian city. There were 8,718 thefts per year, an average of 24 vehicle thefts per day. After the WATSS program was implemented, it has dropped to 1528 vehicle thefts with an average of only 4 vehicles stolen per day, in 2014. That is an 82% reduction in auto thefts.

source: http://winnipeg.ca/police/TakeAction/auto_theft.stm

What I hope to do is start a petition to the Alberta Government, to copy the WATSS program, and implement it here. I believe it would benefit everyone in the province. Not only would car thefts decrease, but senseless tragedies like the death of Maryam Rashidi would be far less likely to occur, if we began placing surveillance on habitual auto thieves. I want to prevent something like this from happening again.

I could use some assistance, as I would need to word the petition properly, and know what jurisdictions to focus on. I believe it can be done. I did this on a smaller scale in 2013, and the Government of Manitoba ended up naming a Highway after Terry Fox in Manitoba as a result. Please PM me if you are interested in helping with this petition to implement the WATSS program in Alberta. Thank you for your time.

[polak]

Link to the Petition?

[Frequitude]

Interesting program that seems to have yielded the targetted results, but my gut tells me I'd rather our policing money be spent elsewhere.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by polak

Link to the Petition?

It's not written yet. That is why I am asking for help. Here is the link to the one I did in 2013:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...221271171.html

Here is the end result:

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/12/1...morial-highway

It only takes a little bit of effort to make the community safer. I just feel horrible for the woman who lost her life, and her family. I took one look at that 20 year old criminals profile, and knew something has to be done. I was contemplating doing it when my vehicle was stolen in early May, and injured a mother and daughter near Stettler. I guess it struck a nerve.

[DownhillGoat]

Out of curiosity, do you have any recent stats on Calgary auto thefts?

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Out of curiosity, do you have any recent stats on Calgary auto thefts?

I'll look it up, and get back to you. I know it's at epidemic levels in Red Deer. At least that is what the RCMP, my insurance company, and local residents are saying.

[jeffporfirio]

I can't help you drafting it (my grammar/spelling is terrible), but I will pass it around to colleagues, family, neighbors and friends for signatures once drafted.

[jar_e]

FWIW, majority of auto theft offenders in Calgary are adults, not doing it for joy rides, and are simply flipping the vehicles for cash/their next hit of whatever substance they're addicted to.

CPS did have the High Enforcement Auto Theft Team (HEATT) that was responsible for dropping auto thefts by approximately 50%. However, that team has been disbanded and such enforcement and mandate is pushed to other teams.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/...elligence-unit

Police say budgetary restrictions and pressing needs in other areas have prompted them to dedicate the six constables and one sergeant from the team to the intel gathering arm of the force. HEATT, which was created in 2003 to target prolific car thieves, is being disbanded over the coming months.

The decision to deploy members from that auto theft team came as the police noted a steady decline in vehicle thefts over the years.
Thanks to the team’s efforts, along with new technology in the auto industry making it more difficult to steal a vehicle without a key, incidents of vehicle thefts started to drop.
According to figures provided by police, the service recorded 6,484 incidents of vehicle theft, which gradually went down to 3,441 by last year.

Both he and Parhar said many of today’s vehicle thefts are crimes of opportunity, cars left running in front of convenience stores and homes, adding educating the public is a big part in combating this crime.
Parhar said the auto theft unit will continue to investigate stolen car cases, monitor auto theft trends, and maintain initiatives such as the bait car program.

Also, Winnipeg's problem was largely based around joyriding/youth which is entirely different compared to the norm across the country.

http://www.canada.com/story_print.ht...82bda&sponsor=

Researchers attributed Winnipeg's high rate to the popularity of joyriding among the city's youths.


Teens between 15 and 18 years old committed half of Winnipeg's solved auto thefts, compared to the rest of the country, where less than a third of cases involve that age group.

In Calgary, police recover 90 per cent of stolen autos, leading investigators to conclude the motive behind most cases is "theft for transport": vehicles taken by criminals for use in other crimes, such as burglaries and robberies.

Further to all this, there has been legislation changed at a federal level under Bill S9 in 2011 where if you're convicted of theft of auto three times, its automatically six months in jail, minimum. Also, the "theft of auto" charge was new, discerning between a simple theft under/over and theft of auto.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2011/05/11...LOCK_QuickRead

Another point mentioning is a large portion of these thefts of vehicles are preventable by not leaving keys in the vehicle/locking your vehicle/never leave your vehicle running unattended.

There's a lot of dynamics with these things but considering the WATSS program is primarily based on teens/youth and joy riding, I feel it may be fitting a square peg in a round hole.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Out of curiosity, do you have any recent stats on Calgary auto thefts?

5,182 for the year 2013. Auto theft was trending downward, reached a low of 4,216 in the year 2011, but has risen in the past couple of years.

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

5,182 for the year 2013. Auto theft was trending downward, reached a low of 4,216 in the year 2011, but has risen in the past couple of years.

I'm not able to dig through them right now but there will be a wealth of information and statistics here for your petition:

http://www.calgary.ca/cps/Pages/Stat...l-reports.aspx

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by jeffporfirio

I can't help you drafting it (my grammar/spelling is terrible), but I will pass it around to colleagues, family, neighbors and friends for signatures once drafted.

Much appreciated. Thanks.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by jar_e

There's a lot of dynamics with these things but considering the WATSS program is primarily based on teens/youth and joy riding, I feel it may be fitting a square peg in a round hole.

What's important here, is the end result. Winnipeg has always been known as the crime capital of Canada, for cities over 100,000 people (or at least in the top 5 for the last 30 years).

Auto theft in Winnipeg (2004): 8718 (1 in 80)
Auto Theft in Winnipeg (2014): 1528 (1 in 458)
Auto Theft in Calgary (2013): 5182 (1 in 231)

Homicide in Calgary (2013): 22 (1 in 54545)
Homicide in Winnipeg (2014): 27 (1 in 25925)

Robberies in Calgary (2013): 879 (1 in 1365)
Robberies in Winnipeg (2014): 1194 (1 in 586)

Break & Enter Calgary (2013): 5621 (1 in 213)
Break & Enter Winnipeg (2014): 3858 (1 in 181)

If you look at the figures, you are more likely to be the victim of crime in Winnipeg except Auto Theft. Calgary now has double the rate of auto theft as Winnipeg. If Calgary managed similar results, if they implemented the WATSS program, auto theft could be cut down to 932 from 5182.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by jar_e

I'm not able to dig through them right now but there will be a wealth of information and statistics here for your petition:

http://www.calgary.ca/cps/Pages/Stat...l-reports.aspx

Thanks. That`s what I was basing my figures on. Looks like Calgary is safer than Winnipeg for every single statistic, except Auto Theft.

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

What's important here, is the end result. Winnipeg has always been known as the crime capital of Canada, for cities over 100,000 people (or at least in the top 5 for the last 30 years).

Auto theft in Winnipeg (2004): 8718 (1 in 80)
Auto Theft in Winnipeg (2014): 1528 (1 in 458)
Auto Theft in Calgary (2013): 5182 (1 in 231)

Homicide in Calgary (2013): 22 (1 in 54545)
Homicide in Winnipeg (2014): 27 (1 in 25925)

Robberies in Calgary (2013): 879 (1 in 1365)
Robberies in Winnipeg (2014): 1194 (1 in 586)

Break & Enter Calgary (2013): 5621 (1 in 213)
Break & Enter Winnipeg (2014): 3858 (1 in 181)

If you look at the figures, you are more likely to be the victim of crime in Winnipeg except Auto Theft. Calgary now has double the rate of auto theft as Winnipeg. If Calgary managed similar results, if they implemented the WATSS program, auto theft could be cut down to 932 from 5182.

I'm just saying Winnipeg's dynamic in regards to auto theft was incredibly different compared to Calgary and the country as over half their offenders were teens/youths. Its an entirely different dynamic and I just question if it would work for Calgary is all.

Calgary (and Edmonton) already have numerous resources to prolific offenders/high risk/chronic, etc. which encompasses auto theft. The HEATT team is now disbanded which is probably the source of some increase over the past few quarters.

I appreciate the willingness to affect change but the scene is obviously different within Calgary and Alberta.

[Jets4Life]

I guess we could ask an expert in Criminology, and a familiarity of different Canadian cities. I think it definitely would not hurt to try the program, as it won International Police Awards.

[BlackArcher101]

What is the cost to implement a program such as this.

[Jets4Life]

I am not sure. I will have to research this. I am sure the benefits outweigh the costs of implementing this program.

[afc wimbledon]

Car theft has disappeared in Vancouver amongst the kids I work with just because most cars have immobilizers, has sod all to do with the po po

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

I am not sure. I will have to research this. I am sure the benefits outweigh the costs of implementing this program.

And I'm not quite so sure. In the end, vehicles are just material things. If you can get bigger bang for your buck by giving more money to fighting crimes such as rape, murder, gangs, etc, I'd rather it go to that.

Frankly I think this is making a mountain out of a mole hill. Is auto theft in Calgary actually at levels that concern the majority of Calgarians?

[Robbob]

I don't have stats to back up my post, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if auto theft were just a precursor to other crimes being committed. Sure there are joy riders but there are also people that take cars so they can get away with more. It is like a gate way to more crime.

I think just saying it is a material thing is simplifying it too much.