It’s always the season for thievin.’
For the RCMP, almost anytime of the year is open season for thieves hitting rural areas.
Stealthy thieves are taking everything from livestock, farm chemicals and big-ticket items like balers and tractors.
Const. Eric Mattinson, in charge of auto theft for southern Alberta, keeps a lookout for cars, trucks and farm implements.
Mattinson estimates farm machinery thefts totaled $1.5 million in the last year and a half. Many pieces were stolen off dealership lots.
“You have to have lots of guts to do this,” said Mattinson.
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Tracking down farm implements is difficult and few are recovered. Stolen from a dealership in Alberta, the equipment could be in Ontario within two days.
Mattinson believes most are sold intact at considerably less than their real value. During hard times people may look the other way when they are offered a deal.
They may also not realize they have bought a hot tractor until they need repairs and discover there is no warranty.
This has been a busy spring for detachments.
“We have about 70 different incidences where equipment has been stolen,” said Cpl. Patrick Webb of the Calgary detachment.
“Most of the time this stuff is just sold to other people.”
Items like riding lawn mowers are especially popular.
“People don’t want to pay $10,000, but they will pay $2,000.”
Crime in the country is not limited to equipment thefts. Break and enters, fuel theft, vandalism and livestock rustling are all rising, said Webb.
Last year, 1,565 cattle went missing, up 300 from 1998. Many were recovered through the brand inspection service. In addition, 78 horses were reported missing. Less than a third are ever recovered, said RCMP.
This time of year contraband farm chemicals are often available at 10 cents on the dollar.
“For a farmer barely breaking even, he looks and sees a dollar difference there,” Webb said.
“Nothing would be stolen if there wasn’t a market for it.”
Penalties are based on the value of the theft and could result in a jail term for thefts over $5,000, depending on how the charge proceeds through court.
While many rural communities have rural crime watch programs, there is growing concern about the rising crime wave.
Hugh Nerlien of Alberta’s Crime Stoppers has visited community meetings in Acme, Beiseker, Carbon, Irricana and Linden where various crimes are on the rise.
“Those communities got together and wanted to do something about the crime problem they had,” he said.
“If we can make people aware that the crime is occurring and give them a venue to call, then we can help. Most people aren’t aware of the scope of the problem.”
Generally rural people are the eyes and ears in a community, but may not want to get involved with the police directly if they suspect a neighbor has a stolen implement on his farm.
Crime Stoppers has a toll-free number for anyone in Alberta to provide anonymous tips to police. A $2,000 award is available but most people never claim the reward, said the RCMP. The number is 800-222-TIPS (8477).
