If you build it, the thieves may come.
That’s one lesson behind an analysis of Ottawa crime statistics that shows two of Ottawa’s most upwardly mobile neighbourhoods leading all others in break and enters.
Alta Vista ward, which abuts the downtown core, tops the list. In recent years, it has witnessed a boom in teardowns of half-century-old homes in favour of larger, often monster-sized dwellings on vast 1960s-sized lots. Its per capita break-and-enter rate led the city with a 52 per cent increase in break-ins from 2011 to 2012.
A close second – with a 43-per-cent increase – was Kitchissipi Ward, home to the thriving neighbourhoods of Westboro, Wellington Village and Hintonburg, where teardowns and shiny new in-fill abodes are flourishing, along with property values.
Alta Vista Coun. Peter Hume said the major reason for the break-in spike in his ward was due mainly to the spree of two focused criminals who targeted the growing number of new home renovation construction sites and a brand new shopping mall, with a large Wal-Mart and numerous other brand name outlets, including a tony new fitness centre.
The “two-man crew” that caused some of the mayhem has been arrested.
“This crew was not only going around targeting sheds and garages, but renovations sites,” Hume said. “There’s construction equipment out front for 18 months, right, when they’re building these places.”
Hume Handout
Smash and grabs from the massive new rows of parked cars at the new Trainyards shopping mall also drove the figures up, as well as some notable assaults on commercial properties in the nearby industrial park, said Hume.
Another landmark in Alta Vista, the Ottawa Hospital’s General Campus with its long lines of unattended parked cars – many of which spill over into neighbourhood streets – has also proved too tempting to criminals and inflated the figures, he added.
In Kitchissipi ward, the presence of Ottawa’s Civic Hospital campus is also being cited for bumping up stats and fuelling awareness of reporting crime.
A pair of 2012 blog posts from the Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association noted the growing perception of break-ins in that neighbourhood.
A Dec. 26, 2012 blog post describes how a mysterious man with a crowbar in his pocket was caught peering into the house of a resident two days earlier – on Christmas Eve.
“It looks like some people are taking advantage of the holiday season. Take care and take precautions,” the post read.
Another post from August 2012 reported a similar pattern – a suspicious young man peering into a back door, a garage theft and a car-break on the hospital campus.
The neighbourhood group held meetings with police and got some crime prevention tips.
“What we’ve discussed with the community is: report it and talk about it,” said Andrew Hickey, spokesman for Kitchissippi Coun. Katherine Hobbs.
“The Civic Hospital area had brought it up, and had asked people to report it, so we brought in community police officers to talk with people about general safety.
Overall, Ottawa’s percapita crime date was down 35 per cent between 2011 and 2012.
Most notably, that included a 39-per-cent decrease in break and enters in the ward of Rideau-Vanier, traditionally the city’s most crime-ridden area, and one that has been the focus of some of most rigorous community policing efforts.
Across the country, police services in 2012 reported the biggest decline in crime in 40 years, according to Statistics Canada.
StatsCan noted that break-and-enters were among the highest reported offenses in Canada.
Yet, despite the spike in Kitchissippi and Alta Vista (see map), the rate of break-and-enters has dropped 43 per cent in the last 10 years across the country.