Auto thefts down: police
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/09/2008 (6563 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Winnipeg police stolen auto unit claims Winnipeg is on track to shed its dubious label as Canada’s stolen car capital — following a month of record-low thefts.
New data released by city police Friday shows August — usually one of the busiest months for auto theft in the city — was the lowest single month for actual and attempted thefts in the last eight years.
Sgt. Doug Safioles said it marked the 22nd consecutive month of reductions. There were 307 thefts and 233 attempts last month.
The lighter workload for stolen vehicle investigators means the city’s on pace to have 5,000 fewer actual or attempted thefts this year than 2007.
More than 12,500 theft-of-motor-vehicle offences were tallied in 2007. Through Aug. 31 this year, the combined total is 5,243.
Safioles also said a record number of arrests were made by stolen auto investigators in August. That number rose to 56 from a previous high of 50 set back in May.
With more than three months left to go in ’08, the total number of arrests for the year is nearly equal to the total affected in 2007, when 300 were made.
He credits staffing increases that took place last summer as the reason for the increase in arrests.
The Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATSS) categorizes high-risk car thieves on a scale of 1 to 4, with the highest level given to repeat offenders who pose a grave public safety risk when driving stolen cars.
Police and probations officers actively keep tabs on the movements of “level 3” and “level 4” offenders when they’re out in the public after getting bail or being released from youth jail to serve a community-based sentence.
Safioles said 59 of the 100 or so “level 4” offenders are currently in custody at the Manitoba Youth Centre.
Typically, he said, about 60 per cent of the high risk offenders are in custody, with the rest out in the community being monitored closely. About 10 per cent currently in public will act out and quickly re-offend, he said.
james.turner@freepress.mb.ca