The head of the Norfolk OPP detachment is putting vehicle thieves on notice ahead of a crackdown on the crime.
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Norfolk OPP is beginning to put a unit in place that will focus on auto theft using a grant from the province. Last November, it was announced that police forces in Southwestern Ontario would be getting more than $5 million to combat the rising scourge of auto theft.
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Norfolk County OPP will get $844,000 from that funding pot.
“Anybody out there who’s in the business of doing auto theft right now should be extremely, concerned extremely,” Insp. Andrew Tait, detachment commander for Norfolk OPP, said at a police services board meeting on Wednesday. “There’s going to be a massive media push about what we’re doing and it’s going to be very aggressive.”
Auto thefts jumped by 14 per hundred last year in the province and has been linked to organized crime networks.
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“It’s very real and something that’s impacting all of us,” said Tait. “It’s very intrusive. You’ve got a brand new vehicle and you walk out to your driveway and it’s gone. It’s really taking a toll on people.”
Tait said the crackdown will also include the theft of farming equipment, which is prevalent in Norfolk.
Total funding announced by the Ontario government in November was $18 million to support 21 project – seven of them in Southwestern Ontario – over a three-year period.
Police forces will use the money for a range of purposes from buying new equipment and expanding data collection to providing specialized training for officers and creating auto-theft units that will take a multi-jurisdictional approach to tackling the crime.
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Tait said an officer assigned to the new unit started on Monday and another will join him in April. He said those officers will become experts in auto theft and train existing officers.
“We’ll have more officers out targeting certain areas. People will see a larger police presence. Analytics and enforcement will be huge. It’s going to make a big difference in what we’re able to do.”
Multiple factors are driving the surge of stolen vehicles, with thieves now using technology to commit the crimes. The value of vehicles has also risen dramatically and organized crime groups are increasingly getting involved, using auto theft profits to fund their drug activities, said Det.-Insp. Scott Wade, head of the OPP’s organized crime towing and auto theft team.
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The scourge of auto theft in Southwestern Ontario was highlighted last August when OPP announced the results of Project Fairfield, a 16-month investigation into a sophisticated criminal group exporting stolen vehicles to countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America.
“There is an escalation of violence, threats, intimidation, weapons and firearms used to steal vehicles,” said Tait.
There was a 72 per cent increase in auto thefts in Ontario between 2014 and 2021, according to provincial statistics.
Tait said there will likely be a “huge launch” of the local program this month. He said there will also be “community education pieces,” including forums and townhalls where people can get literature on how to prevent and protect themselves from auto theft.
On Wednesday, the federal government announced a $121 million investment to help prevent gun and gang violence in Ontario, including auto theft.
The federal government is convening a National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft on Feb. 8 that will bring together all levels of government, industry and law enforcement partners to collaborate on a coordinated response and build on joint initiatives already underway.
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