Several issues were raised at a series of town hall sessions held throughout Sarnia earlier this fall, with thefts – notably of bicycles – emerging as one of the common complaints.
While several issues were raised at a series of town hall sessions held throughout Sarnia earlier this fall, thefts – most notably of bicycles – emerged as one of the key complaints.
The numbers clearly backed that concern up. So far this year, 691 thefts have been reported, marking a four per cent increase over 2021, which had already seen a 19 per cent jump versus 2020.
“Clearly, it’s an increasing concern. It’s a recurring issue. It’s very prominent in the community,” Derek Davis, Sarnia’s police chief, said Tuesday.
The problem is equally prominent inside a Sarnia police property room that contains a mountain of stolen, unclaimed and altered bicycles.
“I have never seen this many bikes and I previously worked at a very large organization,” said Davis, a Halton Regional police superintendent prior to being appointed Sarnia’s top cop earlier this year.
In response to this ongoing issue, a team of officers conducted an investigation where they left an official Sarnia police bicycle unlocked and unattended outside various locations throughout the city. The bike was left leaning against a building for four to five hours at a time for a total of roughly 40 hours while the officers watched nearby.
The results were unveiled Tuesday during a press conference inside the Sarnia police training complex attached to the Lambton Mall. A total of 11 arrests were made and 24 ugly charges. Once, the bicycle was taken just 10 minutes after it was put on display. Davis showed a video of three suspects allegedly being caught in the midst of the attempted theft.
Davis declined to name the suspects Tuesday since their cases are still before the courts, but noted a common excuse made after they were arrested: The bicycle belonged to a friend and they were returning it.
One person caught on Exmouth Street, though, was completely transparent. Even if the bike had been locked up, the suspect said they would have walked to the nearby Home Hardware, stolen a pair of bolt cutters and come back to get the bike, Davis shared.
“(Then I’d have) taken the bike to a friend’s house, painted it, altered the serial number and sold it for drugs,” the suspect reportedly told police.
“Those were the words of the individual that was arrested,” Davis confirmed.
One suspect was a first-time offender with no prior criminal record but allegedly admitted to police they had a drug problem and planned to sell the bike to buy drugs. The majority of suspects, however, had dozens of previous or outstanding charges, prior criminal convictions, and were on probation or release orders.
“Although a stolen bicycle might be considered a less serious offense, these are not less serious offenders,” Davis said.
The chief added it’s critical not to link shoplifting, thefts and mischief, seemingly minor offences, with youth or normally law-abiding people making a mistake while out during a night of drinking.
“The less serious crimes are often multiplied in quantity to fuel a larger issue,” he said, “but we have to take a bigger picture look. That’s really what this comes down to.”
Tuesday’s recap of the investigation came ahead of Thursday’s police services board meeting, where drafts of the upcoming three-year business plan and 2023 budget will be presented for potential approval. The business plan includes proposed ways to tackle this issue, including increased police presence through a new auxiliary unit.