December Newsletter

2022 Incident Summary
(Incident source: Archer, Meaghan. (2022, October 5). 2 men arrested after theft of ‘substantial amounts’ of canola from central Alberta farm. Globalnews.ca. Accessed November 9, 2022, from https://globalnews.ca/news/9175675/canola-theft-central-alberta-farm/#:~:text=RCMP%20have%20arrested%20two%20men%20and%20recovered%20farming,farm%20and%20%E2%80%9Csuspicious%20individuals%20attempting%20to%20sell%20canola.%E2%80%9D)

 
Early one morning, on a farm in central Alberta, a farmer was contacted by his neighbour. The neighbour had noticed a truck and a grain auger being pulled by a jeep go past and found it odd. Upon hearing this, the farmer decided to check his grain bin. When he got there, he found approximately 600 bushels of canola and the grain auger kept next to the bin missing.
 
People in the area began sharing what happened and warning others to be watchful over text and social media. A short while later, RCMP received a report of questionable individuals trying to sell canola. The alleged thieves became nervous at some point and it eventually escalated into a police chase.
 
After some time, the grain truck was stopped using a spike belt and, according to an RCMP release, a loaded 12-gauge shotgun was found in one of the vehicles. Two men were arrested in relation to the incident.
 
Sadly, famers have been targets for all types of theft over the years. While no one can afford to lose grain, fuel, livestock or vehicles, it is more important that no one loses their life in an attempt to confront a thief.
 
AgSafe Alberta recognizes the challenges farmers and rancher face when it comes to policing and response times in rural areas. While the points listed here may not be ideal, it is essential that any actions you take are the ones that will be the safest for yourself and the others on your farm.

Important safety considerations if you suspect there is criminal activity on your property:

• Do not attempt to confront the individual(s); call 9-1-1 immediately! As in this instance, they may be armed and there may be more people involved than you are aware of. The emphasis should be on keeping yourself and the others on your farm safe.
• Do not attempt to chase or track down the thieves or would be thieves. Again, they may be armed and dangerous, and there may be more of them than you think.
• If you notice a broken window, open door, broken lock or other indication that your house, shop or barn may have been broken into, do not search it yourself. Call 9-1-1 and do not enter the area until the RCMP have told you that it safe to do so.
• Have a plan in place and keep the plan simple. Talk about the plan and practice it with family members and workers. This is especially important for farms with young family members or young workers; you don’t want them putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situations or in a situation that creates unnecessary fear or trauma.  

Remember these tips:

• If a crime is in progress, call 9-1-1 immediately. Be prepared to give the 9-1-1 operator your location (e.g., rural address, nearest intersection, etc.). Answer their questions to the best of your ability and follow their instructions. They will ask questions in a specific way and in a certain order for a reason, becoming frustrated will only delay or interfere with the response.
• If the crime occurred while you were away or sleeping (not in progress), call the non-emergency line of your local RCMP detachment. Local detachments can be found by clicking here.
• Always report the crime to RCMP and document it for your own records. Too often, rural residents fail to report crimes in their area because they think the police have more important things to do or they don’t believe the RCMP will do anything with the information. This can have negative impacts, as an accurate picture of the areas most affected by crime and types of crimes occurring will not be identified and may contribute the issues not getting addressed. Reporting the crimes and having details on record can also help the RCMP build stronger cases against the offending individuals so that action can be taken.
  • Why document it? Performing your own on-farm investigation can help you identify ways to reduce the likelihood of it happening again. If you have a Rural Crime Watch Chapter in your area, comparing notes of what you are finding, as well as what is working and what is not to deter crime, could be interesting and helpful.

Other Helpful Resources:

Click here to read AMA’s article on 9 Tips to Prevent Vehicle Theft.

Click here to read the Co-Operators’ article 10 ways to prevent home break-ins.

Visit the Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch Association’s website for more tips or to start a chapter in your area.

To submit a tip about a crime or to view the Alberta RCMP Crime Map, visit the Crime Stoppers website.

Curious about crime statistics in your area? You can find them on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Alberta Crime Statistics page.