Message from Mayor Thorne regarding Crime Prevention

A recent social media post  drew attention to crime in our area and encouraged anyone interested to attend our January Protective Services standing committee meeting held last Monday evening.  We had a full house and appreciated the opportunity to hear the stories of those who have been affected by crime, answer questions, and receive a few proactive suggestions.  The RCMP had a member present and I know that he also appreciated the opportunity to be a part of the discussion.

One of the commitments I made was to ask for a special meeting with the RCMP, beyond our monthly meeting, to learn more about the nature of the criminal activity that has been occurring in Sussex and our surrounding area.  We wanted to understand if break-ins, trespassing, vehicle thefts, and other crimes were related to addiction or are there other reasons.  We also wanted to learn if they are being carried out by a few individuals or many and were they local or transient.

We appreciate that senior RCMP officers quickly agreed to meet with us last Friday to discuss every concern and answer our questions as completely as possible.  We were pleased to learn that several significant arrests have been made in recent weeks of local individuals who are believed to be responsible for a significant number of crimes including thefts, an armed robbery, and drug related offences. Occurrences have dropped since these arrests.

We also learned that, without exception, every instance of reported vehicle theft in Sussex and theft of items from vehicles occurred with vehicles that were unlocked…the stolen vehicles had keys left inside.  These thefts were all crimes of opportunity, and the stolen vehicles were taken for the purpose of joyriding.  We all can help eliminate these types of thefts by simply locking our vehicles whenever we leave them.

Crime hurts all of us. It is personal and can leave scars that can last a lifetime.  We can help our police prevent and solve crimes by always reporting thefts no matter how small or insignificant they seem.  Reporting helps our police establish patterns that can lead to arrests and successful prosecutions.  If you are a victim of crime, please contact the RCMP or report a crime at this link:

https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/nb/online-crime-reporting

We take the safety and security of our community very seriously and have an open and transparent relationship with our RCMP.  Our staff and elected officials encourage anyone to reach out with any concern that they may have.  We will be linking posts from our Sussex RCMP Detachment to our social media site to improve communication to the people we serve.  Working together we can make a difference.