Oakville Ontario News, Articles and Reviews

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Oakville.com has received new stats from the Halton Regional Police Service regarding theft and property damage charges laid in the Oakville and Halton area so far in 2010.

“There is no way to link these specially to youth crime, these are just the numbers, it could be any age,” said Sergeant Brian Carr, Media Relations Officer for the Halton Regional Police Service.

From the Niche Records Management System these statistics were collected between January 1st to August 24th of 2010:

• 705 charges were laid regarding theft from auto, an increase from the 636 charges laid in 2009.
• 332 incidents of theft under $500.00, another increase from the 302 reported in 2009.
• 440 incidents of property damage under $5,000, which has gone down from the 572 charges laid in 2009.

[Statistics that would link these charges based on age were not available.]

Mischief, property damage, and general rowdiness has been a hot topic of discussion this summer between residents and town council.

“My take is that there is a large amount of youth in Oakville are finding less to do, so they amuse themselves in other ways,” Ward 5 Councillor Marc Grant said in a Oakville.com report on July 26th.

Although statistics have shown that incidents have been reduced in some cases, feedback from residents has been mixed.

A solution to some of the challenges faced by Oakville residents is the hiring of a Community Development Officer, and the installation of security lights and cameras that would cost the town $170,000.

Councillor Grant said that the issue would be discussed further by Oakville Town Council in November.

Tags: Brian Carr, marc grant, rowdy behavior, vandalism

About the author: Michael Burton

Michael is journalist with experience in publishing, news writing and the magazine industry. He graduated from Sheridan College and is the former editor of TRAVIS magazine.