Crime
EPS launches campaign to help curb vehicle thefts and smash and grabs
Your community is a HotSpot!
EPS launches new public awareness campaign to help curb Theft of and Theft from Vehicles
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is launching a new campaign today to alert residents that the community they live or work in, is a Hot Spot for theft from and theft of vehicles.
“These two crimes continue to be on the rise year after year and we need all communities to be more vigilant about protecting and securing their vehicles,” says Sgt. Smith of West Division Crime Management Team. “Dealing with the aftermath of having your car broken into or stolen, is much worse than making the extra effort to protect your property.”
Nine neighbourhoods in Edmonton will notice large signs by roadways, alerting them that their neighbourhood is a Hot Spot. The campaign focuses on one community in each of the six EPS Divisions.
“These communities historically have had the most theft-from and theft-of vehicles when we analyzed the data from the last five years,” says Sgt. Smith.
The EPS compared statistics from Jan. 1, 2019 to Nov. 30, 2019, which correlated with the statistics over the last five years. The Hot Spot communities include:
| Theft of Vehicle | Theft from Vehicle |
| Downtown Core (78) | Downtown Core (378) |
| Belvedere (68) | Garneau (188) |
| Alberta Avenue (67) | Alberta Avenue (128) |
| Strathcona (41) | Westmount (75) |
| Summerside (35) | Killarney (68) |
| Inglewood (34) | Summerside (56) |
There have been some occurrences of thefts involving vehicles with a smart key that have been left running, unattended and with key removed. Owners of these vehicles may be unaware that the vehicle may not lock due to a safety override feature in some manufacturers and assume incorrectly that the vehicle will not be able to be driven away.
“It appears that storage of these fobs within vehicles is often an issue. It is very easy to try the vehicle ignition button to see if the vehicle responds, even if no key is visible, in hopes that the vehicle will engage due to a hidden fob,” says Sgt. Smith.
There are many thefts where it’s unknown how a vehicle was broken into. Malls, parking lots and parkades continue to be primary targets for criminals.
“Parking lots and parkades are targets because they are often left unattended with poor lighting thus increasing the chances that thieves will go undetected,” says Sgt. Smith.
Other Theft of Vehicle and Theft from Vehicle Stats:
- City wide, between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2019, a total of 3,638 vehicles were stolen in Edmonton; and 7,302 thefts from vehicles also occurred.
- The number of reported thefts from vehicles in the city has increased by 97 per cent since 2013, which had 3,701 reported incidents.
- Year to date, 2019 has had the highest number of thefts from vehicles, since 2013
- Southwest and Downtown Divisions have seen the largest increases this year.
- For theft of vehicle, there were 700 incidents reported to police just between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31 of this year; 54 of those stolen vehicles were left running with a key inside and 76 had the key or a spare key left in the car.
Tips to prevent theft of and from vehicles:
Do not leave your vehicle running – Under no circumstances should you leave your vehicle unattended while running with the key in the ignition. NOTE: Remote car starters are not a problem; they are designed to shut off if attempts are made to steal the vehicle.
No Spare Keys – Do not leave a spare key hidden in the vehicle. Thieves look for spare keys, and once they break into your vehicle, they know all the hiding spots. You can get a spare key holder for your wallet or purse.
Lock Up Your Vehicle – Always check that the doors, windows, and sun roof are shut and locked when you park your vehicle. Leave your vehicle in a locked garage where possible. Lock your vehicle even when it is in a locked garage.
Be aware of where you park – park in parking lots that have more than one of the following:
- Security cameras
- Security patrolling the parking lot
- Someone working at an entrance/exit booth
- A gated parking lot that needs a pass to get in and out
- Well lit
- A busy parking lot with lots of people coming and going or an area where there are lots of vehicles or pedestrians passing by
Treat Your Keys Like Cash – Don’t leave keys in places where they are easy to steal, such as a gym locker, on your desk at work, visible in an open purse or unattended in a shopping cart. Thieves will grab and go, then head out to the parking lot and push the button on your key fob until they find your car.
Use a Steering Wheel Locking Device (e.g. The Club) – A well-secured car will deter thieves. There are other devices available to consumers to stop thieves from easily stealing your vehicle. See your local automotive stores for details.
Do not leave items in your vehicle – Thieves can be attracted to your car because personal items are left in plain sight. Never leave anything in your vehicle, including loose change, cell phones, CDs, cameras, clothing, sunglasses, cigarettes, lighters, and any other items.
Install a Remote Car Starter – Remote starters are designed to shut off if anyone attempts to drive the vehicle without a key. This will allow you to warm up your car without risk of theft.
Don’t leave a spare key fob in your vehicle- This prevents thieves from breaking into your car to see if it can be started and driven away.
Ensure safe storage of Smart Keys/Keyless ignition fobs: Store smart keys away from the vehicle and doors. Consider investing in a “Faraday bag” to enhance security of the wireless communication system of the vehicle.
To report theft from auto under $5,000 please go to https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/ContactEPS/OnlinePropertyCrime. To report a non-emergency, call the EPS non-emergency line at 780-421-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. For all crimes in progress, call 911.
From LifeSiteNews
Andrew Bridgen says UK security agencies ignored detailed information about child trafficking, including names of people involved and where the children were being taken.
A former UK Member of Parliament says the top security agencies of Britain, including the police and MI5, are refusing to act on detailed information they’ve been given about child trafficking into the country.
Andrew Bridgen, who served as a popular Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire from 2010 until 2024, told Infowars founder Alex Jones in a Friday interview how he had raised concerns while in Parliament about “a number of individuals” who were evidently pedophiles.
“It was always passed to the police, to the National Crime Agency, and it involves senior politicians, very senior police officers, and nothing was ever done about it,” Bridgen told Jones.
He had explained that early in his career he had seen London police quash an investigation into child prostitution — and so this appeared to be a repeating pattern of cover-up of child sex crimes.
A former policeman named Jon Wedger had discovered that “children were being taken from children’s homes in the UK and prostituted on the weekend,” and were returning “under the influence of drugs and often with terrible venereal diseases, and the people at the homes were doing nothing about it.”
Upon further investigation, Wedger “wrote a report he sent to his superiors pointing out that child prostitution in London had not been investigated for decades.” However, instead of attempting to protect the children and stop the abuse, the police “threatened” Wedger, told him to retract the report, and fired him from the police force “on false pretenses,” according to Bridgen.
Later, Bridgen met a man who conducted a two-year investigation into sex abuse by pedophile and deceased Prime Minister Edward Heath. The police concluded that, were Heath alive, “he would have been arrested and charged with pedophilia.”
“If a former MP could have been a pedophile and it was covered up, then anything is possible,” Bridgen remarked.
He then told how last year a source approached him with “information about child trafficking into the UK,” including “detailed names of people involved on the ground; where the children were being brought in; where they were being taken; where their photographs were being taken; and the name of the company that was instrumental in laundering the money” used to buy these children.
The source had brought this information to the police, to the counter-intelligence agency MI5, and to the National Crime Agency, and “nothing was done” by any of these groups. Not only did they fail to act on the information, but “mysteriously, within two days of dropping the file with the National Crime Agency,” the source’s LinkedIn profile was “visited and investigated by someone who worked at the company who was named in the file.”
“Meaning they were tipped off,” Jones noted.
Bridgen told how the source had recorded all of his phone calls with MI5, the police force, and the National Crime Agency, and when they failed to act, Bridgen “sent a file with all the information to senior politicians.”
“Eventually, all I got back was, ‘Take it to the police.’ I pointed out this had already been to the police, and it had been to MI5. There actually was an MI5 officer who had been very sympathetic and realized how important this evidence was. And he tried to push it. He was removed from the service. That’s how deep the corruption runs.”
In a June 2024 interview on the Resistance Podcast, Bridgen elaborated, “And then when you see the names, you see why. They are known names.”
He shared further horrifying details about the final end of the children who are trafficked and abused.
“They use them in the sex trade for about three years and then when they’re worn out they organ harvest them,” Bridgen shared.
“No one’s interested. No one wants to talk about it. No one wants to talk about a lot of things.”
Bridgen believes this demand for child trafficking is an explanation for the drive to continue wars around the world, including the war in Ukraine, because the conflicts present “a huge opportunity for child trafficking.”
Jones pointed out it was publicly admitted that decades ago, sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein entered war zones in Kosovo and Serbia and bought “nine- and 10-year-old girls” in order to sell them into sex slavery in the U.S. The father of Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was one of the main directors of the “blackmail pedophile operations” of “MI6 and Mossad,” according to Jones.
“Ultimately, I think it’s the glue that holds the self-proclaimed elites around the world together, because once they’re involved in pedophilia or profiting from child trafficking, it’s the ultimate blackmail,” Bridgen said. “There’s no way out of the club for them. They all have to go down together.”
Offenders and accused who pose a public safety risk may now be subject to 24-7 court-ordered electronic monitoring by Alberta Correctional Services as part of their community supervision conditions
Alberta’s government is taking action to combat rising crime and restore safety by launching an electronic monitoring program as part of its Safe Street Action Plan.
Alberta’s government is keeping a promise and implementing a new ankle bracelet monitoring program in response to the country’s problematic bail system. The ongoing catch-and-release policy brought in by Ottawa forced Alberta’s government to take additional action to protect families and communities.
Starting Jan. 15, the new provincial ankle bracelet electronic monitoring program to help hold high-risk and repeat offenders accountable will officially launch. Through this program, offenders and accused who pose a public safety risk may now be subject to 24-7 court-ordered electronic monitoring by Alberta Correctional Services as part of their community supervision conditions.
“Ottawa’s Bill C-75 has broken the bail system. We are taking an important step toward combating rising crime. High-risk offenders pose a significant risk to public safety and require enhanced supervision in the community. As government, it’s our duty to protect Albertans and their communities. Ankle bracelet electronic monitoring is another tool in the toolbox for courts to consider when determining sentencing or bail conditions, helping us combat rising crime and create safer Alberta communities.”
Announced alongside other measures to enhance community safety in last spring’s Public Safety Statutes Amendments Act, 2024, individuals under a court-ordered electronic monitoring condition will be required to wear a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device monitored by a new unit within Alberta Correctional Services, ensuring compliance and consistent oversight of high-risk offenders on bail and community release throughout the province.
Ankle bracelet electronic monitoring will protect Albertans and communities by helping to secure offender-restricted areas, such as victims’ residences, places of employment or any other area deemed off-limits as part of an individual’s bail or community-release conditions. Probation officers within Alberta Correctional Services continue to supervise individuals under provincial community-based court conditions and bail supervision. Previously, this supervision primarily occurred during regular business hours and did not involve the use of GPS electronic monitoring ankle bracelets. Anyone under court-ordered electronic monitoring conditions will be informed of the program requirements, including the tracking of their location.
“Alberta’s government continues to call for federal bail and sentencing reform to stop violent criminals from re-entering our communities. We remain committed to prioritizing the safety of Albertans through measures like the use of ankle monitors, strengthening the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts and policing to protect Albertans from violent criminals.”
Following extensive stakeholder engagements and an open technology vendor procurement process, the launch of the provincial electronic monitoring program enhances community supervision with around-the-clock monitoring and adds to the various methods and community supports already used by probation officers, including regular reporting, referrals to community programs and ongoing engagement with policing partners. Additionally, this program aligns Alberta with programs in other provinces across Canada.
Quick facts
- The new program will supervise individuals whose conditions include court-ordered electronic monitoring.
- Alberta’s electronic monitoring program is supported by $2.8 million to cover implementation costs for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
- In August 2024, the government selected SCRAM Systems as the technology vendor for the ankle bracelet electronic monitoring program through an open procurement process.
- The estimated end date for the electronic monitoring vendor contract is March 31, 2029.
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