Councillors here are generally satisfied with the latest crime figures from the county OPP.
Mayor Lou Maieron said in an interview he was pleased to see that domestic violence is down in his community – the only place in Wellington County to be able to say that. There were 36 calls last year, compared to a three-year average of 39. In general across Wellington, the three year average was 294, but last year there were 327 domestic incidents.
OPP Inspector Scott Smith presented his annual crime report to council on May 5.
He attributes the spike in domestic incidents to the economy, and said when money gets tight, problems often happen in the home.
There were fewer violent crimes in Erin last year, with 67, compared to a three-year average of 69.
Assaults were set at 29, with the average being 35 over three years.
But property crimes were up, from 278 last year over the three year average of 262.Break-and-enters went to 39 last year from 31 on average. Mischief dropped to 93 from the average of 98.
But thefts from motor vehicles jumped to 34 from 32.
Impaired driving was down slightly, from 13 last year compared to the average of 14 in the three year average. Impaired driving in Erin was only 8% of all the charges in the county. There were 156 charges in 2010, compared to the three year average of 185 per year.
Maieron said he told Smith at council it was “a stroke of genius” on the part of the OPP to have two huge OPP Yukon cruisers parked at the Erin Fall Fair last year on the Friday and Saturday nights. He said brawls are a regular occurrence there on those nights, but with the visible police presence last fall, there were no incidents.
But, Maieron said, merchants and homeowners have been telling him for several months that what is really bothering them is petty acts of vandalism and thefts. He said those include graffiti and minor thefts from properties.
“They don’t believe they’re getting the action,” he said of police enforcement for those crimes.
“I’ve heard this regularly. ‘Kids can get away with this – so I’m not going to step up’.”
He said people are upset when something is stolen from or vandalized in their back yard.
Maieron said whether those comments are upsetting or not, it is his job to let the OPP know what people are thinking of law enforcement.
