The Brantford area is No. 1 for auto thefts in Canada but efforts to address the problem are already showing signs of progress, says a city police spokesman.
"We've been aware that this has been a problem for some time and, along with our community partners, we've taken steps to address it," Insp. Kent Pottruff said Tuesday. "I think, if you take a look at our statistics over the past five years, you'll see that we've made progress.
"We certainly want to keep moving forward with those efforts."
City police are working in conjunction with the Brant OPP and Six Nations police on the problem. And Pottruff encouraged people in the community to do what they can to help reduce crime by reporting it to police.
Figures released Tuesday by Statistics Canada put the Brantford area, which includes the Six Nations and the County of Brant, at the top for vehicle thefts in the country for 2009.
For the third year in a row, Winnipeg, which used to occupy the top spot, recorded a double-digit decrease in auto thefts in 2009. The decrease is largely the result of targeted programs such as specialized task forces to address organized crime, a "bait car" program and youth prevention programs, Statistics Canada said in a report.
Still, according to Statistics Canada, there was an overall drop in vehicle thefts last year across the country. And figures compiled by Brantford police show there has been a drop locally in vehicle thefts, too.
In 2009, city police recorded 721 motor vehicle thefts, down from 830 in 2008 and down from 762 in 2007. The 721 vehicles stolen last year is also below the five-year annual average of 770 car thefts, according to police figures.
Last August, Six Nations Chief Coun. Bill Montour highlighted the problem of auto thefts in the area. Six Nations had become the "capital" for the receipt of stolen vehicles from all over Ontario, said Montour, noting that the problem had become a primary concern for the community. In the first eight months of 2009, Six Nations police recovered 442 stolen vehicles. In 2008, Six Nations police recovered 700 stolen vehicles.
Auto thefts were just one part of a Statistics Canada report called the Crime Severity Index. According to the index, the Brantford area has an overall crime severity index of 106, up about a percentage point from last year. The figure puts the area in ninth spot across Canada for areas with a population greater than 100,000 and in second spot in Ontario, behind Thunder Bay. Thunder Bay has a crime severity index of 110.3, while Regina, which occupies the top spot, has an index of 143.7.
But Pottruff said people need to be careful about reading too much into statistics because they don't always take other factors into consideration.
"It may be that our numbers are higher because people are more comfortable reporting crime to us," he said. "We have very good working relationships with social service agencies in the city and it just may be that, because of that, people are more likely to call us and report a crime."
Across Canada, almost 2.2-million crimes were reported to police last year, about 43,000 fewer than 2008.