BARRHEAD – The Barrhead and Area Regional Crime Coalition (BARCC) has won awards for its role model initiatives to take a dent out of area crime.
“An important aspect of our coalition is sharing our story,” said Adam Vanderwekken, County of Barrhead communication coordinator, at the FCSS 55+ Dinner at the Senior Drop-in Centre on Feb. 21.
The Connect alerting system is a groundbreaking tool and is the first of its kind of Alberta implemented by BARCC in 2018.
It allows real-time alerts to the sent out to registered residents on emerging crime issues, Town and County updates and events.
Shortly after the Connect system launch, the community received alerts on a suspect at large breaking into vehicles, and residents receiving the alerts assisted in helping the RCMP locate the suspect, Vanderwekken said.
That suspect was arrested and charged.
From BARCC's inception the coalition has identified the number of community concerns that residents wanted addressed, said Vanderwekken
The primary issues have been property crimes, vandalism and lack of communication with the public regarding local crime issues.
Addressing these community concerns remain a core value for BARCC today.
Freson Bros. has partnered with BARCC to offer their parking lot as a designated meeting site for people meeting a stranger when buying or selling goods online.
This provides a supervised meeting place to increase community member’s safety.
BARCC has recently undertaken focusing on catalytic converter theft. Theft of catalytic converters seems to be a potential problem across Alberta, according to Vanderwekken.
Catalytic converters contain precious metals that are quite expensive, and they are relatively easy to cut off a vehicle.
Thieves can often sell their vehicle parts for hundreds of dollars. This type of crime has increased across Alberta in recent years.
The lack of an identifiable victim is the real trouble that often challenges police with charging criminals, said Vanderwekken – once the catalytic converter is cut off a vehicle, it's very difficult to prove that it was stolen and not remove legally.
To help curb catalytic converter theft, BARCC has partnered with local automotive businesses in the town and county on a catalytic converter engraving initiative, Vanderwekken said.
Upon request participating businesses will engrave the last 8 digits of your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) onto your catalytic converter and then also mark it with a high-heat fluorescent paint.
This identification number can help police identify your converter and prove it was stolen from your vehicle.
The heat reflective paint can help act as a deterrent because it's been marked.
The RCMP interactive crime map is another tool for residents to learn about what crimes are occurring in their area, Vanderwekken said. The system lets the user see the number and types of crimes for the selected area on the map.
BARCC also delivers in-person workshops and resources on their website regarding crime prevention education tips and tricks.
Topics like online scams, how to safely buy and sell items online, cyber security and crime prevention are some of the topics available.
The BARCC website (barcc.ca) is where crime prevention tips are shared, access to the crime map and community members can register for alerts.
BARCC is a regional partnership with the Town of Barrhead, The County of Barrhead, Woodlands County, Barrhead RCMP, and Barrhead & District Rural Crime Watch Association.
IT was established in early 2018 when MP Arnold Viersen invited stakeholders to discuss the terms of reference for a rural crime task force.
After discussions it was then suggested they strike a committee so that decisions could be made and real actions taken.
