GLACE BAY, N.S. — On the evening and night of Friday, Jan. 13, a few mean-spirited people went on a vicious vandalism spree in and around downtown Glace Bay. They smashed and slashed. Some of the damage was costly and is still visible.
They hit numerous homes, businesses and vehicles – perhaps dozens. Quite a few streets were affected. The vandals were so bold that even properties within sight of the police station were targeted. Apparently, it went on and on.
One businessperson described the vandals’ demeanour, caught on camera, as “holy terror.”
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This particular night of crime – and other incidents in the same area – are compromising the rights of residents.
As a community – and in constructive dialogue with the police – we need to ask some questions, including questions about neighbourhood watches, reporting, patrols and how existing police resources get deployed and utilized.
Could the night of crime have been interrupted? Can we prevent something like this in the future – or at least work with the police to stop it while it’s happening?
Police response
On Jan. 26, I reached out by e-mail to Desiree Magnus, spokesperson for the Cape Breton Regional Police Service. I explained that I am working on a column. I asked these questions:
• What is the current status of the investigation?
• What was the police response that night? How many calls were received that night?
• To the best of your knowledge, how many properties were affected?
• Will the police be reviewing their own response, and will the results be shared with the police commission? Are there any lessons to be learned about monitoring, patrols or community relations?
• What would the police like to see the public do to prevent or reduce future such incidents?
Magnus asked for extra time to respond. On Feb. 9, she sent a response. It reads as follows:
“I appreciate your patience. The investigators have been pursuing a few different leads, so my ability to speak to details was a bit limited.
“The investigation is still ongoing, and officers have at least one person of interest. I can tell you that we were operating at routine complement that night, that no calls for service went unanswered and there were resources assigned to patrol in Glace Bay.”
Continued Magnus: “However, these random acts of vandalism were not isolated to one specific area but spread out. Unfortunately, they were not observed by police at the time they occurred, and the majority of the incidents were not reported to police until damage was noticed the next morning.
“As we know from experience, individuals can create a significant amount of property damage in a very short period of time.
“Citizens ultimately know best what is unusual or suspicious in their neighbourhoods and we encourage them to report any of this kind of activity to us as soon as possible. We follow an intelligent-led response model and assign resources based on call type and severity. In other words, our primary focus is on the areas where we get calls for service.”
“I hope this answers your questions; please let me know if there is anything further you’re looking for.”
Followup
I followed up on Feb. 10 and Feb. 17 to ask Magnus if the police are looking for the public’s assistance in their investigation.
I also asked if she is able to give me any additional details in response to my original questions, in particular about whether the police were able to mount a response that night, about whether they will be reviewing their own response and about whether there might be any lessons to be learned about monitoring, patrols or community relations.
As of Monday of this week, when I submitted this column, I had not heard back in response to the followup. I am sympathetic to the fact that there is an ongoing investigation, but sometime soon we need to have a fuller conversation as a community.
To use an expression from my own line of work (political science): This is actually a POGG issue – peace, order and good government.
Dr. Tom Urbaniak is a professor of political science at Cape Breton University. His latest book ‘In the Public Square: A Citizen’s Reader’ will be published this spring.
