Just as the Langley RCMP were beginning to think they had found and jailed most of the petty thieves plaguing the City, a new wave of criminals has crime stats climbing.
The latest Langley RCMP quarterly update shows theft from autos in Langley City rose sharply in the first six months of 2016 to 351, up from 200 during the same period in 2015, a 76 per cent increase.
That was the main reason behind an increase in the overall crime rate during the same period of 28 per cent.
The Officer in Charge of the Langley RCMP detachment, Supt. Murray Power delivered the report at the July 11 meeting of City council.
Power said the rate of thefts had fallen because most known thieves operating in Langley City had been arrested.
But then the numbers started to go up.
Criminals ‘coming from everywhere’
That was when police discovered new criminals have moved in from other communities, from as far away as North Vancouver and Chilliwack.
“They are coming from everywhere,” Power told council. “We have a lot of new individuals.”
A lot of the criminal activity is along the 200 street corridor, Power said, describing it as “quite busy.”
“We’ve identified a whole raft of people through the street checks,” Power said.
“There’s a lot of them, so it’s going to be slow and steady (getting the stats down).”
Langley RCMP have a message for the newcomers.
“If they aren’t going to live here peacefully, then we’re going to keep the heat on them so they can’t be comfortable in the Langleys,” Power said.
It’s not clear why the influx of new criminals has occurred, Power added.
Most, he said, are “drug-addicted, desperate individuals.”
Councillor Rudy Storteboom said he is aware that a “number of new faces” have been seen in the City.
“It’s a little unnerving,” Storteboom said.
City stats easy to skew
Mayor Ted Schaffer said in a community like Langley City where “everything is close together” the arrival of a few new criminals has a lot more impact.
“It only takes one or two bad guys to skew the stats,” Schaffer said.
Supt. Power doesn’t believe homeless people are playing a significant part in the increase in thefts from cars, calling them “probably the least of our concerns.”
He said police have investigated one homeless camp in Nicomekl park and while it is “visually upsetting” there isn’t anything to indicate a connection to the property theft increase.
“I’ve been there myself,” Power said.
“I don’t see a lot of value in the effects they have. I believe they’re just surviving day to day.”
Auto theft is also up by 29 per cent, according to the quarterly update.
There was also some good news in the report, with drops in break and enters and mail theft cases in the first six months of this year.
Residential break and enters are down 16 per cent, with as few as four reported in a month.
“That’s very good news,” Power said.
The switch to newer, heavy-duty community mail boxes has reduced mail theft by 38 per cent, with only 20 reported incidents in the first six months, a big change past years when as many as 20 mail thefts could happen in a single night.
“I really have to give the credit to Canada Post,” Power said.
“That crime wave has really dissipated.”
