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High crime rates continued in Dec 2021. The worst City for crime had a crime rate that was over four times higher than Spruce Grove and Stony Plain, some of the safest cities we track.
Red Deer and Sylvan Lake had the third highest amount of crimes per citizen. Red Deer was also one of the highest crime cities in October and November.
The second highest was Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.
The most likely place to be robbed in December will come as no surprise to the many victims and people who know where a lot of stolen goods are ending up. The highest crime city in December was Drayton Valley, Alberta.
How bad is the crime in these 3 Cities? Put it this way, Calgary in October had less crime per citizen than these three cities had in December. October is when thieves weren’t running around with hats and long underwear trying to stay warm. December in these areas was cold and snowy, but the crime rate barely dropped.
1) Everyone should have Lightcatch before a crime happens. It’s a free download and it was designed to be used less than 5 minutes per week.
2) Theft victims need to alert the public within 12 hours of the crime. When creating the alert there needs to be a clear description of what to look for, what happened, good images of what was stolen, and certainty that the police have been contacted.
3) Create alerts on Lightcatch before crime happens to unlock the help of the community nearby. They all have mobile phones, why shouldn’t they be able to assist? Their confirmation can help police decide when to send resources and where to patrol.
The Cities and Counties that did just two of these three simple things in 2021 had a 52% success rate in recovering stolen items. A 273% improvement.
The communities that do NOT have these things taking place only got a 19% success rate.
Anytime criminals start losing 273% more often they are prone to quit or find somewhere else to try crime. The areas with the lower crime rates have seen examples of criminals moving on more frequently and faster than the other regions.
Just yesterday an arrest and a stolen truck was recovered because one witness took 10 minutes to call the police and tell them they knew who the criminal was and where the stolen items were kept. All it takes is one credible lead for the police to often break up a crime. You could be that one person who makes this kind of difference next time.
Getting people to report crimes in less than 12 hours seems very simple but the majority of homes and business do not have property security configured correctly and can not report a crime that quickly. Unlocking the information in their security camera systems often takes days or weeks, if it happens at all.
The communities who did all three of these things to protect themselves have some of the lowest crime rates in this chart below.
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When a citizen or business owner is four times more likely to be robbed who pays for all of those damages and frustration? Clearly it is the property owner in the form of higher taxes and higher insurance rates on top of the uninsured losses that aren’t reported.
What the results in places that have the lowest crime in the chart above, like Parkland County, Spruce Grove, and the County of Grande Prairie prove is that the way to keep crime from draining your bank account is to be prepared in advance. With a little preparation, property crime becomes a solveable problem.