Report notes rise in property crimes, relates massive seizure Jan. 1

At the meeting of Barrhead County Council on Friday, Jan. 22, Sgt. Bob Dodds of the Barrhead RCMP detachment, delivered his quarterly report which focused on some of the more troublesome areas of criminality in the county, and highlighted one of the biggest seizures of drugs, guns and cash during a random traffic stop on Manola road, on New Years Eve.

“Last time I was in council I talked about the rise in property crimes,” Dodds told council, adding that over the last four years it is a trend that has been increasing.

“It isn’t pretty and we’ve been saying that for a while now,” he said.

According to Dodds, in 2012 the total number of criminal codes was 222, but by 2015, crimes had risen to 482.

“It gets worse,” Dodds said, adding property crimes specific to Barrhead had risen from 127 to 307 for the same period of time. “We are starting to get to the point where it has tripled, and is now more than two and a half times what it used to be.”

Total crimes against persons, he said, had risen as well.

“It isn’t as astronomical a rise as we are seeing with property crimes,” he added.

On a more positive note however, Dodds brought up a recent traffic stop that revealed a wealth of illegal material.

“On New Years Eve, I happened to stop a car out on Manola road,” he said, adding that at that time of the year, when something suspicious is spotted, it is often a drunk driver or something related.

“We found a loaded .44 calibre revolver, $16,000 in cash, 108 grams of cocaine, small amounts of methamphetamine, marijuana, and ecstasy, along with six other drugs that we have sent to the lab for analysis,” Dodds said, adding the individual in question was re-arrested for a traffic violation in Westlock one week later, on Jan. 9.

“Westlock traffic caught him going 123 kmph in a 100 kilometre zone,” he said. “They searched his car and guess what they found; A gun, drugs and money. He is in jail now and will remain there until his court date.”

Last week, Dodds said, the Barrhead RCMP detachment received a tip about the un-named individual’s house being a grow operation for marijuana.

“We executed a search warrant and found the remains of a grow op, a loaded gun, ammunition for at least three different firearms, as well as a small amount of drugs and money.”

Dodds explained that the individual caught in Barrhead, and again in Westlock, is the perfect example of what kind of an impact one person can have on a community.

“In September and October, we had no idea who he was, his name was not on our radar.”

Dodds said the arrested individual was from the Barrhead area, adding that taking people like him off the street will help reduce property crimes.