New Break and Enter Teams lay nearly 600 charges

The Calgary Police Service Investigative Operations Section has been focusing resources to better address break and enters in the city, which has been identified as a consistent concern for citizens.

On average, 23 break and enters occur in Calgary every day, eight of these are residential break-ins. For the first three quarters of this year, citywide break and enters were up 39 per cent from the five-year average. Break and enters are also increasingly being linked to stolen vehicles and drug crimes throughout the city, creating the need to refocus current resources.

Over the past six months, the Service has responded by creating two centralized Break and Enter Teams, which solely investigate commercial and residential break and enters in the city. By establishing these teams, members are able to work more efficiently to detect cases that may be connected, identify suspects or groups of prolific offenders and recover stolen property.

Since creation, the CPS Break and Enter Teams have worked on approximately 272 files, laid roughly 600 charges and recovered nearly $850,000 worth of stolen property.

Recently, the Break and Enter Teams have completed operations targeting parkade and garage break and enters, residential break and enters and recovering stolen property.

On Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, an operation targeting downtown parkade break and enters concluded resulting in 40 warrants being executed and 14 charges being laid against 10 individuals.
On Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, a joint operation with District 3 concluded that was initiated in response to over 50 garage break and enters in the area between September and November. As a result, a search warrant was executed on a residence in the 700 block of McDougall Court N.E. and approximately $75,000 worth of stolen property was recovered, including 18 high-end bicycles, identity documents, electronics and sports equipment. Ten charges were laid against three individuals. This investigation is ongoing.
On Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, officers began examining a growing trend of smashed glass commercial break and enters in the District 5 area. As a result, two offenders were arrested and eight charges were laid.
Two separate investigations concluded the week of Monday, Nov. 21, 2016, which targeted individuals selling stolen property from break and enters through online classifieds. In total, 10 charges were laid against three individuals, five warrants were executed and approximately $10,000 worth of stolen property was recovered. In both cases, covert resources were utilized to identify offenders and confirm possession of stolen property.

In half of the city’s break and enters, offenders were able to gain access to a residence without applying any force. Citizens are reminded to:

Always remove garage door openers from vehicles parked near your residence. Offenders will often target vehicles that have openers in them to gain access to a residence.
Secure all of your windows and doors, even if you are home.
Keep your car keys in an unlikely place, not right beside your door for thieves to easily find.
Keep irreplaceable documents, photos and items in an unlikely place.
Get to know your neighbours. Report any suspicious people or activity to police immediately by calling 403-266-1234 or 9-1-1 for a crime in progress.
Never leave keys in an unattended vehicle, especially while warming up vehicles in cold weather.