CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST -

LITTLE BUGGERS IN THE NIGHT - IT'S TIME TO GET BACK TO WATCHING OUR NEIGHBORHOODS - REPORT THE BREAK-INS - HELP THE OPP WITH IDENTIFICATION

IT WAS BACK IN ABOUT 1989, THAT ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE OFFICER, MATT KELLY, TOLD GRAVENHURST COUNCILLORS…..BLUNTLY, HONESTLY, THAT IT WAS TIME TO BEGIN LOCKING THE DOORS OF YOUR RESIDENCE, AND VEHICLES. I CAN REMEMBER SITTING AT THE PRESS TABLE, AND WATCHING THE FACES OF COUNCILLORS, SEEMINGLY BEWILDERED THAT GRAVENHURST WAS NO LONGER A SLEEPY HOLLOW, AND THAT THE DAYS OF INNOCENCE WERE OVER…..AND THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO APPRECIATE THAT CRIME WAS MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE AND URBAN-NATURED, SOMETHING THE TOWN NEEDED TO COME TO GRIPS WITH, BEFORE THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT BEGAN LAUNCHING EVEN BIGGER HARVESTS.

I TALKED TO MATT KELLY ABOUT THIS SOME YEARS LATER, AND I TOLD HIM THAT IT WAS REALLY KIND OF AN HISTORIC MOMENT, NOT BECAUSE GRAVENHURST HAD BEEN CRIME-FREE THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, BUT THAT TRUST WAS NO LONGER AS GOOD AS ITS INTENTION. THERE WERE OTHER CITIZENS WHO WANTED YOUR POSSESSIONS. IT WAS A WAKE-UP CALL THAT DID, I THINK, CHANGE SOME ATTITUDES. I WROTE THE STORY FOR THE BANNER, AND A FEW FOLLOW-UPS TO MATT'S STARK REVELATION, SO I KNOW THE HEADLINE HAD AN IMPACT. I DON'T THINK IT WAS AS MUCH A WATERSHED MOMENT, AS ALMOST ONE THAT CAUSED EMBARRASSMENT. COUNCILLORS LOOKING AT ONE ANOTHER, TRYING TO FIND SOME SORT OF REBUTTAL, I THINK, BUT NOTHING CAME OUT THAT REFUTED WHAT THE OFFICER WAS TELLING THEM…..ON BEHALF OF THE OPP LOOKING AFTER OUR COMMUNITY. HE POSSESSED THE STATISTICS THAT COULD PROVE THE ASSERTION.

I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE GOOD MR. KELLY, AND HIS ADVISORY, WHEN A NEIGHBOR HERE ON SEGWUN BOULEVARD, TOLD ME THIS MORNING ABOUT ALL THE VEHICLES THAT HAD BEEN BROKEN INTO OVERNIGHT. I'VE HEARD SEVERAL REPORTS SO FAR, BUT NOTHING THAT WOULD SUGGEST AN ACTUAL "BREAK AND ENTER." RATHER, THEY WERE "OOPS, WE FORGOT TO LOCK THE CAR DOORS." NOW WHILE WE ARE A FAIRLY CLOSE-KNIT NEIGHBORHOOD, AND WE DO REPORT PROPERTY TRANSGRESSIONS, VANDALISM, AND THEFT, AFTER DOZENS, AND I MEAN DOZENS OF SIMILAR EVENTS, FOLKS STILL HAVE THAT SMALL TOWN GOOD FAITH, THAT BAD STUFF WON'T HAPPEN TO NICE PEOPLE. AS STATISTICS REPRESENTED A GROWING CRIME SITUATION IN GRAVENHURST, IN 1989, IT HASN'T REALLY ABATED, AND WITH THE DRUG TRADE OPERATING AT A VIGOROUS PACE IN MUSKOKA, (FROM NEWS OF RECENT DRUG BUSTS), PETTY CRIME IS NEVER GOING TO DIMINISH……IF WE CARRY ON LEAVING OUR CAR AND HOUSE DOORS OPEN WHEN UNATTENDED.

The break-ins occurred at around 5 a.m. rumors have it, although this is hearsay until proven otherwise. My van doors were locked, and they made no attempt to wedge the door open or break the glass to gain entry. I wasn't so lucky last spring, as a thief did get into the van, early in the evening, but wasn't happy with the offerings inside. This is another problem here. Folks are still leaving valuables in their vehicles overnight. If the criminal element sees a cup holder with folding money, or loonies and twonies laying about, that makes your vehicle much more interesting, than if it was full of lumber or empty shopping bags.

I did interrupt a thief in my neighbor's car, not so long ago, and I saw his get-away. I would have got him, but son Robert dropped some keys while we were watching through a dividing shrubbery. What I did see, was a teenager of about 16 to 19 years of age, in a hoody, riding a small bike up the small hill of Segwun Boulevard. By time the police arrived the perpetrator had fled either up a path between the neighborhoods or into the bush….which we have lots of in the Calydor Subdivision. I suspect it is the same individual(s) this week, and I believe there were others working alongside…..or at different properties, a couple of houses ahead, or behind. I believe they arrive by bike, and have some carrying capacity. I wondered whether they have a place where they stop, as a group, after so many hits on cars, and stash the haul, so it doesn't weigh them down. They may be close enough to see the cruisers arrive at the scene. I also suspect they have phone connectedness, and are better co-ordinated than we think. They are running a business, as such, and whether it is part of the drug cycle, and trade, only catching them will prove that connection.

There are a lot of folks who will not report these break-ins. That's not helping. The police can find a pattern to all of the break-ins, that will help over the long-term of investigations, many being linked despite occurring at opposite ends of the town. If you happen to see strangers hanging around, or acting suspiciously in vicinity of driveways, houses or even businesses, don't take any physical action yourself, other than to make a phone call of concern. Some of these same thieves have weapons. Get a good description, as this helps with future identification. It wouldn't hurt to improve your home and car security, and get video surveillance. We would have had these folks, in police custody, if we had video coverage of our driveway on the nights they were doing their shopping.

As Officer Matt Kelly told us, in 1989, city crime, is now a daily part of small town life and times. Please take precautions. Be good neighbors. Report incidents of crime. Assist the OPP, in their ongoing assignment, to make our community safer, by initiating more proactive crime prevention. We need to do our part. Locking up is a good first step.

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