LAKELAND - With another stretch of cold weather in the forecast, RCMP across Alberta are encouraging motorists to take precautions when warming up their vehicles.
This week, Alberta RCMP reported a decrease in thefts of a motor vehicle and thefts from a motor vehicle during the pandemic. When looking at the March to December time period for 2019 and comparing it to the same time period in 2020, urban detachments saw a 27 per cent decrease in theft from motor vehicle, and a 26 per cent decrease in theft of motor vehicles.
Rural detachments noted a 29 per cent decrease in theft from a motor vehicle, and a 21 per cent decrease in theft of motor vehicles.
"Despite these positive numbers, there is still room for improvement," according to RCMP.
From March to December of 2020, there were over 7,800 theft from motor vehicle offences, and over 7,100 theft of motor vehicle offences in the Alberta RCMP jurisdiction.
RCMP encourage people to lock their vehicles, remove all valuables, use a steering wheel lock, lock garages where vehicles are parked, remove garage door openers from vehicles, use a vehicle tracking system, park in well-lit areas, and never leave a vehicle running with the keys inside.
RCMP are using Valentine's Day as a way to promote the tips, and released a number of Valentine's Day-styled graphics to get the message across to Albertans.
RCMP encourage the public to report any criminal or suspicious activity to police.
In the region
When asked about local numbers, Cst. Monnika Fehr of the St. Paul RCMP noted there were 148 occurrences of theft of motor vehicles and theft from offences combined in 2019. That number did drop to 110 reported offences in the same period for 2020, reflecting a similar downward trend.
The St. Paul detachment separates statistics between its provincial contract, and the Town of St. Paul contract.
Taking into account the whole year, Sgt. David Graham says July to December saw a notable decrease of theft of motor vehicle occurrences under the provincial contract, which covers areas outside of the Town of St. Paul, with instances going from 66 in 2019 to 46 in 2020. He added that this number does include taking a motor vehicle without consent, which is usually a family member of friend that took the vehicle without being allowed.
A 15 per cent decrease was noted under the provincial contract for theft from a motor vehicle.
Within the Town of St. Paul, theft of motor vehicles saw a 30 per cent decline in 2020, when compared to 2019.
"The biggest decline was in the last quarter which saw a drop from 22 to five," says Graham. Theft form a Motor Vehicle also experienced a 30 per cent decline within the town.
Cold Lake RCMP also breaks its statistics into provincial and municipal categories. That region saw similar numbers of vehicle thefts when comparing 2019 to 2020.
In 2020, there were 135 vehicle thefts on the municipal side, and 82 on the provincial contract. In 2019, those numbers were very close to the same, with 135 under the municipal contract and 80 classified as provincial.
*Story updated to reflect local statistics
