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Community engagement in the war against crime RICHARD MAHONEY richard.mahoney@eap.on.ca licing committees in each municipality is a possibility.
ing off. The detachment recorded an un- precedented clearance rate in 2013, as the crime rate dropped dramatically in Hawkesbury, Alfred-Plantagenet, Cham- plain and East Hawkesbury. “I am pretty happy to see negatives across the board,” he said. The detachment resolved 91 per cent of the violent crimes it investigated last year. The work of officers has been “excep- tional,” he said at a press conference last week. But Mackillop is still not pleased that some offences remain unsolved. “I hate it,” he stated when asked about the lack of suspects in a sexual assault case in Hawkesbury. He is still wonder-
ing if officers could have done something to prevent the attack that occurred in Sep- tember when a woman was assaulted by two men while she was walking with her infant in the town’s west end. It is almost impossible to head off some offences, such as vandalism committed by a teenager bashing mailboxes. Yet Mack- illop said the detachment intends to in- crease prevention efforts. “We are looking for ways to increase our community engagement, to drive change, to break down community silos,” he com- mented. The formation of community po-
Prevention can boil down to noting a stranger in the neighbourhood, locking the car doors, or installing a security system. Full complement People can expect to see four new faces at the detachment. Four recruits have been assigned to the station that serves Prescott County. “We had been running eight or nine short for a while,” said the command- er, explaining that a full complement is 54 constables. “We hope by summer we will be fully staffed.”
HAWKESBURY | Like everyone else, members of the Hawkesbury Ontario Provincial Police detachment get upset when crimes are committed, said com- mander Inspector Bryan Mackillop. “We’re human, too. This is our commu- nity, too. So officers take it to heart when there are crimes that are not solved,” said Mackillop. There is compelling evidence that the detachment’s “pro-active” strategy is pay-
1 2!*0%+*/ŏ,+1.ŏ !/ŏ#.+1,!/ Quatre organismes communautaires partageront des subventions de 5000$, accordées par le conseil municipal de Grenville-sur-la-Rouge dernièrement. Des subventions de 1250$ chacune ont été approuvées pour le Centre communautaire Campbell à Pointe-au- Chêne, le Club de l’âge d’or de Harrington, le Centre communautaire Avoca et un groupe à Calumet. *ŏ*+12! 1ŏ +*/!%((!.ŏ 2 *0ŏ) % La municipalité de Grenville-sur-la-Rouge a quatre mois pour tenir une élection partielle afin de remplacer le conseiller Raymond Larose, qui est décédé le 1 er janvier à l’âge de 79 ans. Son poste a été déclaré officiellement vacant le 14 janvier. «Le 14 mai est la dernière date possible pour une élection», a relaté le directeur général par intérim, Marc Montpetit. «C’est quasiment certain que le vote n’aura pas lieu le 14 mai, parce que c’est la fête des Mères», a mentionné le maire John Saywell. À la même assemblée, où un moment de silence a été observé en mémoire de M. Larose, la municipalité a décidé de payer 1800$ pour défrayer les coûts d’une cérémonie civique et d’une réception pour M. Larose. «Son décès laisse un trou au conseil», a déclaré M. Saywell, faisant allusion au conseiller qui avait été élu en novembre.
Citizens make arrest The actions of concerned citizens resulted in the arrest of a burglary suspect January 22 in Alfred-Plantagenet, reports the Hawkesbury Ontario Provincial Police (O.P.P.) de- tachment. At about 1 p.m. a man was driving on Concession 5 when he noticed a man standing by a vehicle in the driveway. Knowing the owner was not there, the concerned citizen turned around to check on the suspicious person. The suspect got into his car and left. The passerby noticed that the front door had been forced open. He then tried to catch up with the fleeing vehicle, in vain. The passerby called his father who was looking after the vacant residence for the owner. They made their way back to the residence where they found a man hiding in the bushes nearby. The man fled but was later caught in the woods by the family of the con- cerned citizen. The man was then turned over to police. Marc Carrière, 31, of Ot- tawa, was charged with break and enter with intent and mischief under $5,000. The accused is scheduled to appear in court February 26. Gym employee charged A Hawkesbury gym employee has been charged after allegedly fabricating a report about a robbery in October. Shaun Auger, 19, of Rigaud, faces charges of theft under $5,000 and public mischief. The charges follow a lengthy investigation by Hawkesbury Ontario Provincial Police Detective Constable Alain Potvin after a robbery was reported by an employee at the Fit Life gym on County Road 17. It was reported that two men had entered the business and demanded money from the cash register. The O.P.P. identification unit, canine unit, crime unit and patrol officers responded. No one was found at the time of the incident. Police say the investigation has revealed that the gym employee took the money from the cash register and called police alleging he had been the victim of a robbery. %*ŏ0.!!0ŏ 1.#( .5 Police are seeking a man in connection with an early-morning burglary at a Main Street, Hawkesbury business. Just before 1 a.m. January 23, a passerby noticed a break and enter in progress at the Gravité store, 299 Main St. East, and notified police. By the time officers arrived, the thief had fled. The culprit had gained access to the snowboard and skateboard business via the front door by breaking the window. The Hawkesbury O.P.P. canine unit responded to the scene and assisted the officers. Officers were able to get a description from the store’s surveillance system. The white man was wearing a grey North Face jacket, black winter snow pants, a black hoodie, black baseball cap, dark skateboard shoes, black gloves and had a black bag with one shoulder strap. The suspect was approximately 5’’9 to 6’’0 feet tall. The thief stole Nixon watches from a display. The burglary is still under investigation by Constable Danyk Lafrance. 26 charges In the week of January 20 to 27, Hawkesbury O.P.P. officers responded to 193 occur- rences and laid 26 charges. Officers investigated two break and enter incidents and three assaults; five thefts were reported. Four RIDE initiatives were conducted. For a second week in a row there were no impaired driving charges laid. .1#ŏ/!%61.! Two people face drug charges after Constable Marc Lauzon intercepted a vehicle Janu- ary 21 at Stanley and Higginson Streets in Hawkesbury. The driver, Patrick Lamothe, 27, of Rockland, was charged with possession of methamphetamine and driving without a valid permit. The passenger, Lucie Lalonde, 22, of Hawkesbury, was charged with pos- session of Tylenol 3. They were released and are scheduled to appear in court February 19 in L’Orignal. *+3)+ %(!ŏ/0+(!* Police are trying to track down the person who stole a snowmobile from an Alexandria business. Sometime between January 18 and 21, someone stole from a Sandfield Avenue location a 2007 Bombardier snowmobile, reports the Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry Ontario Provincial Police detachment. Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to call 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers, 1-800-222-8477.
Photo Gregg Chamberlain
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