Ontario Provincial Police

CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST -

STOPPED BY THE COPS - A SUSPICIOUS GROUP OF MEN - THE LONG WAY HOME - I WAS SUSPECT - AND GLAD TO SEE LAW ENFORCEMENT IN ACTION

THE CONSTABLE, HAVING MADE SURE I WAS THE TED CURRIE, WHO BELONGED TO THE VEHICLE, THE HOUSE, AND THE OTHER LADS IN THE VAN, LOOKED RATHER UNCOMFORTABLE BY THE FACT, I SUPPOSE, HE'D STOPPED SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T HAVE STOLEN PROPERTY, ON BOARD, THE SCENT OF ALCOHOL ON HIS BREATH, OR THE COMPUNCTION TO RUN FROM THE SCENE…..AND INTO THE ADJACENT WOODLANDS. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RATIO WOULD BE, ON OCCASIONS LIKE THIS, AS TO HOW MANY STOPS DON'T TURN-UP ANY PERPETRATOR…..AS COMPARED TO BONANZA EVENTS, WITH CARS OVERFLOWING WITH ILL-GOTTEN GOODS…..AND TOOLS USED IN THE BREAK AND ENTER PROFESSION.

I SUPPOSE THE OFFICER MAY HAVE THOUGHT, THE NEXT ISSUE, WAS THE BERATING I WAS GOING TO PROVIDE, CONSIDERING THAT I'M AN UPSTANDING CITIZEN….A LITTLE MOUTHY BUT NOT CRIMINALLY SO….., AND MY SONS ANDREW AND ROBERT HAVE, IN THE PAST, SUBMITTED TO POLICE CHECKS, TO SATISFY THE PARENTS OF THEIR MUSIC STUDENTS. THERE WOULD BE NO BERATING HERE. IN FACT, AFTER PROVIDING ME WITH REASONS I WAS STOPPED, IN THE AFTER-MIDNIGHT CHECK, I THANKED HIM FOR HIS CONCERN, AND FOR FOLLOWING THROUGH ON SUSPICION. FOR THOSE FEARING A LOSS OF CIVIL LIBERTIES, IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS, I WAS, OF THE OPPOSITE OPINION, VERY PLEASED THE ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE OFFICERS, ARE TRYING TO MAKE THIS A SAFER, LESSER-CRIME COMMUNITY.

Here' what happened, just so you know the Curries were just going about their normal, day to day business. Andrew was working late at the Opera House, where he is employed as a sound technician. (He also works at other entertainment venues…..and keeps ungodly hours as a result) It was after the load-out of a show, last week, and we were past midnight picking him up. I came around the corner to the Opera House, from John Street, and saw the police vehicle, stopped at the country singer's tour bus. Just chatting with the driver we supposed. As we approached, the officer moved to the intersection, and I really didn't pay attention to which direction he turned onto the main street. Andrew had left the Opera House, to drop items off at his music shop, situated in the old Muskoka Theatre building, across the road. The officer may have noticed us pulling up to the shop, and Andrew jumping into the van. I'd be suspicious if I saw this happen, especially considering the hour, and the break-ins that have occurred in the past.

When we pulled away, Andrew asked me to go slowly past a block of buildings, just before the traffic lights going north. He thought he saw some smoke coming out of a window upstairs, at one of the store-fronts. We drove by slowly, looking up. There was nothing, but it sure looked suspicious on our part…..and I actually thought about that at the time. The mention or sight of smoke in this town, makes everyone nervous these days. So it was important to at least check it out. It was probably burnt toast being ventilated from an upstair window. But it wasn't a major incident. Thank goodness.

I have a number of routes to take, in order to get back home here to Birch Hollow. I like to mix it up. I've been a long-way-a-rounder all my driving life. It used to make my dad nuts, when I'd take the Oldsmobile for a tour of town, and go the longest way possible, to maximize the driving pleasure. The fuel gauge however, meant my dad was going to need gas before he went to work, because a simple trip to the store took about ten miles more than required. My family knows this well. I love driving. So I once again took the longest way home, as we were talking about the concert and assorted business of the day. As a result of Andrew and Robert's technical work, they often leave venues at one to two in the morning, and they want to talk. I want to drive. So the point is, the constable made the right decision to check our vehicle. I was doing everything to draw suspicion, although it really was all pretty normal stuff. He didn't know that. What was he supposed to do? Considering the vandalism and theft in this community, at present, I couldn't have been upset at what happened regardless how it may have looked to the neighbors…..seeing a police vehicle blocking me into my driveway here at Birch Hollow. "Oh, geez, they finally got that big mouth Currie!"

After I thanked the officer for checking things out in our town, to help prevent crime, I told him about the three break-ins of our car in the past, and numerous others to my neighbors…..and that our little bailiwick was still following the "Neighborhood Watch" protocol, although I'm not at all sure if the official program is still functions in town. Regardless, we help each other out around here, and we've foiled quite a few other thefts by being alert to the bumps in the night.

The OPP face criticism by some folks in this town for the crime that does exist. They will complain about vandalism and theft, shoplifting and drug issues…..but only to other citizens during impromptu "what's wrong with Gravenhurst" chats, that I hear frequently in my travels. If you ask them, if they have contacted police to report an incident that was happening, or had occurred earlier, most…..and I mean the majority, will answer "No." How many shoplifting incidents go unreported. Loss is simply written off as theft, when the books are done for the year. Car break ins? How many happen each year, as compared to the number actually reported to the police. I've heard this time and again, "They didn't take anything of value…..I don't want to get involved." This is however, until the matter of local policing comes up in casual conversation…..and let the berating begin. There are citizens who watch vandalism take place…..have a phone in their pocket, or purse, and make the decision, to not get involved…..to not give the police an opportunity to apprehend the parties responsible, during the act.

How can you criticize the police services in this region, for not doing enough about crime, when in fact, the majority of citizens have the same attitude. They will see a drug deal going down……possibly watch the familiar sellers work the same corner every day, and never once think it responsible citizenship, for the safe and crime free community they desire, to make a phone call to report suspicions. It doesn't mean you're putting your life in danger by getting involved. If you think this, you've watched to many Sopranos re-runs. You don't have to make citizens' arrests, or take the law into your own hands, by wrestling a perpetrator to the ground. Call the police. Make the effort to help clean up crime, by getting involved, and letting them know about something you feel is out of the ordinary……maybe smoke coming from a window, fire crackers being thrown from an apartment window (we reported one of those on Canada Day in Gravenhurst), grave markers being toppled, spray paint being applied to our buildings, knife blades etching down the side of a vehicle. You might be surprised to know that many of these acts are witnessed to some degree, have raised some suspicion from passersby, and neighbor houses, but many folks just don't want to interrupt their recreation and slumber time……..unless of course, it is a full car length scratch, or punctured tires…….making them angry in retrospect. Yup, maybe the rustling they heard in the driveway, the night before, wasn't the raccoon after all. But I'm pretty sure, in the cursing and mumbling, that the police will somehow get blamed for what the resident could have, in many cases, prevented, or solved by making a sensibly proportioned response to the criminal act. Like making a phone call.

In my years as a reporter, I had a great deal to do with the OPP. From my teenage years, in Bracebridge, I played goal for the OPP hockey team. In recreational hockey, in later years, I played with many police officer team-mates, and I was one of the founders of the still-operating (Herald-Gazette) Rink Rats, and the Lovable Losers Hockey Tournament, with co-founder Ed Kowalsky, a long serving constable when not hosting fundraising events. We had numerous officers on our team, and we frequently played against other officers on the OPP squad. Ed liked the Rink Rats better. I was a football referee in Bracebridge, and my partners were often Fred Dean, and Barry Thompson, both long serving officers…..and dutiful referees. Point is, I saw the police, serving our area, much differently that we view them today…….almost separate from the same hometown we live in……forgetting somewhat, these officers have families, living in our Muskoka towns…..having to deal with the same intrusion of crime as any other resident, citizen, business owner must live with….as part of life and times of modern towns in a modern world. They are our neighbors who are employed to provide security for our home region. They're not a group of officers living in a separate compound, like when police were brought from other areas to deal with the G-8 and G-20 conferences. They have homes with gardens, some vegetable patches, kid play sets in the backyards, front door steps they have to sweep like the rest of us, and decks that occasionally need some stain. They have barbecues and enjoy heading out to the golf courses, baseball diamonds, hockey rinks, as players, coaches and volunteers……and, well……LIVING NORMAL LIVES.

I am grateful to have officers on duty, checking out our town, and rounding-up those who wish it harm, and I hope the constable, who pulled us over, appreciates just how much we support these interventions. I guess I could have thrown words out at him, like "constitution," and "democracy," and made claims that he violated my civil liberties. That's if I truly believed this had been the case. I'm not particularly shy about making a point…. In this case, every protocol was followed, and it made the three occupants of the vehicle feel the long arm of the law was protecting us. Thank you sir, for trying to make our town a safer place to live.

As a footnote….because I love these. Our music store, on Muskoka Road, was broken into several summers back. Due to the outstanding follow-through of the OPP, and the investigating officer, we had a majority of the stolen items returned to us, and the courts provided cash restitution. The officer apprehended the perpetrator, and what had begun as a terrible, costly blow, for a new small business in Gravenhurst, became a high point in our five year business history. We found out by immersion, just how concerned our local police force is, about putting the criminal element out of business. We are grateful beyond words……and for a blogger like me…..that speaks volumes on its own.

ADDED NOTE ABOUT OUR RECENT BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE SALVATION ARMY FOOD BANK

WE WOULD JUST LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE KINDNESS OF THE GRAVENHURST ROTARY CLUB, FOR THEIR MOST RECENT SUPPORT OF THE "NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS" CONCERT, LAST SATURDAY AT THE OPERA HOUSE. THE ROTARY CLUB ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK, THAT IT WOULD ASSIST THE FUNDRAISER BY COVERING THE RENTAL COST OF THE OPERA HOUSE, FOR THE ANNUAL CONCERT. THIS IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED BY ANDREW AND ROBERT CURRIE, SPONSORS OF THE SHOW….WHICH RAISED $450 AT THE DOOR, AND $250 IN FOOD DONATIONS.

THANK YOU ROTARIANS.