CYPRESS COUNTY, AB – Cypress County is hoping a partnership with RCMP will help residents understand the crime happening in their own back yard.
At their last meeting the County approved embedding a crime map on the County Website.
The map is updated by the RCMP, who are rolling the service out to municipalities across Alberta.
It shows instances of theft from motor vehicles, theft of vehicles, break and enters, mischief on a map. It doesn’t show the specific address of the incidents, but will instead place the corresponding icons at a nearby street or intersection instead.
The goal is to arm residents with information about crime trends happening where they live.
“It’s going to open a lot of eyes,” said Dan Hamilton, Deputy Reeve for Cypress County. “You’ve got the rural area where people don’t lock their houses, don’t lock their vehicles up, this is going to make them open their eyes up that you have to do it now.”
Hamilton who works with the local crime watch groups said they’ve noticed a spike in rural crime in the County over the last year.
“Things have spread out into the rural [area] so you have to [take] extra steps. Take your keys out of your vehicle, lock your house up, prepare yourself,” he said.
The details are still being worked out with RCMP, so there’s no time line on when it will be up and running.
The City of Brooks and County of Newell have a crime map in partnership with the RCMP. It can be viewed HERE.
The Medicine Hat Police Service operates its own crime map for the city, it can be found by clicking HERE.
