Rural crime is a growing issue which has put rural citizens into a terrible quandary. As thieves become increasingly bold we have to choose between defending our property or sitting back and letting criminals habitually prey upon us. We lock our things up. We put gates on our driveways. We install camera and alarm systems. In response, the thieves pull down gates with winches using stolen trucks. They smash doors and windows to get at locked items and they give the finger to security systems. They know that police will take at least 40 minutes to respond. We have the right to “reasonably” defend our property and we will do so. What is unreasonable is simply letting ourselves continue to be victimized..Last year while Eddie Maurice was being victimized and dragged through the court system for his having dared to defend his household from criminals, there was a series of rural town hall style meetings held by the provincial Ministry of Justice along with the RCMP. These meetings were packed as concerned citizens sought answers..At all of these meetings a common theme was that when allowed to take the microphone, citizens would ask “what can we do to protect our property?”. The answer from authorities was that we were to call police, cower in our homes and pray that the criminals simply want to steal a few things rather than harm us while we wait 40 minutes for help. These answers of course simply agitated the rooms further and citizens made it clear that they were going to stand up and defend their property no matter what the authorities tell them..At one of these meetings in Okotoks, an RCMP member said something to the hundreds gathered which nearly sent them into a riot. He said “Stuff is just stuff. Let it go. You can always replace stuff.”..Our property is not simply “stuff”. These are possessions that we had to sacrifice time within our lives in order to purchase or create these things. When thieves steal these possessions, they are stealing the time it took to acquire them and to replace them. Many items hold sentimental value as well which of course can’t be measured. Many things can’t be replaced..I have heard people flippantly say “just let insurance deal with it”. These are clearly people who have utterly no idea how insurance works..I own a small pub and coffee shop in Priddis Alberta. In this last ten days my pub has been robbed twice by a destructive gang which has been rampaging in my region for a few weeks. They have been responsible for at least nine robberies among five locations. They hit one pub in Bragg Creek twice and another three times. These people simply won’t stop no matter how many barriers we put in front of them..When my pub was broken into the first time, the criminals got perhaps $1,600 in petty cash and liquor. They did an additional $2,400 or so in damage in the attempt. When they broke in again eight days later, they got no items (we had secured and removed everything of value) so they satisfied themselves with smashing my place to bits with crowbars on their way out and did about another $4,000 in damage. In less than two weeks, I have had to eat $8,000 in losses to these guys. My insurance deductible is $5,000 per event. If I carry a lower deductible the premiums become too high. Furthermore, if I make repeated claims the insurance companies will simply refuse to cover me further. This is happening to households as well. Insurance is good for the rare catastrophic event but it isn’t an option if one is hit repeatedly..My alarm system alerts me when my pub is breached. I live very close to the pub. On the second break in I missed the criminals by two minutes. I won’t be as slow next time and I won’t be responding unprotected. I can’t afford to wait..We could double or even triple the number of police officers in rural areas, it would make little difference. There are too many square miles to reasonably cover..With a larger police presence being unreasonable, it leaves it to homeowners and businesses to protect their property themselves and they will no matter what they have been told. We can’t and won’t let criminals continue to steal our property..Rural crime is a multi-faceted issue. The economy, the addiction crisis and aboriginal issues all are at play and all need to be addressed. Logistics is another issue. We will always be isolated and that makes it incumbent upon ourselves to protect our property when it is threatened. When protecting our property alone in the dark, “reasonable” force will often include a firearm as the protection of one’s person may very well come into play..We have the right to protect our property and we will do so. What we need is for our authorities to recognize this and quit victimizing citizens who are exercising their right to protect their stuff. We must focus on the criminals rather than the victims when it comes to justice. Let’s quit wasting court time on innocent victims such as Eddie Maurice and use these courts to put habitual criminals away for good..Rural citizens can’t afford to lose more “stuff” to thieves and they are going to defend it. “Call, cower and wait” isn’t good enough.
Rural crime is a growing issue which has put rural citizens into a terrible quandary. As thieves become increasingly bold we have to choose between defending our property or sitting back and letting criminals habitually prey upon us. We lock our things up. We put gates on our driveways. We install camera and alarm systems. In response, the thieves pull down gates with winches using stolen trucks. They smash doors and windows to get at locked items and they give the finger to security systems. They know that police will take at least 40 minutes to respond. We have the right to “reasonably” defend our property and we will do so. What is unreasonable is simply letting ourselves continue to be victimized..Last year while Eddie Maurice was being victimized and dragged through the court system for his having dared to defend his household from criminals, there was a series of rural town hall style meetings held by the provincial Ministry of Justice along with the RCMP. These meetings were packed as concerned citizens sought answers..At all of these meetings a common theme was that when allowed to take the microphone, citizens would ask “what can we do to protect our property?”. The answer from authorities was that we were to call police, cower in our homes and pray that the criminals simply want to steal a few things rather than harm us while we wait 40 minutes for help. These answers of course simply agitated the rooms further and citizens made it clear that they were going to stand up and defend their property no matter what the authorities tell them..At one of these meetings in Okotoks, an RCMP member said something to the hundreds gathered which nearly sent them into a riot. He said “Stuff is just stuff. Let it go. You can always replace stuff.”..Our property is not simply “stuff”. These are possessions that we had to sacrifice time within our lives in order to purchase or create these things. When thieves steal these possessions, they are stealing the time it took to acquire them and to replace them. Many items hold sentimental value as well which of course can’t be measured. Many things can’t be replaced..I have heard people flippantly say “just let insurance deal with it”. These are clearly people who have utterly no idea how insurance works..I own a small pub and coffee shop in Priddis Alberta. In this last ten days my pub has been robbed twice by a destructive gang which has been rampaging in my region for a few weeks. They have been responsible for at least nine robberies among five locations. They hit one pub in Bragg Creek twice and another three times. These people simply won’t stop no matter how many barriers we put in front of them..When my pub was broken into the first time, the criminals got perhaps $1,600 in petty cash and liquor. They did an additional $2,400 or so in damage in the attempt. When they broke in again eight days later, they got no items (we had secured and removed everything of value) so they satisfied themselves with smashing my place to bits with crowbars on their way out and did about another $4,000 in damage. In less than two weeks, I have had to eat $8,000 in losses to these guys. My insurance deductible is $5,000 per event. If I carry a lower deductible the premiums become too high. Furthermore, if I make repeated claims the insurance companies will simply refuse to cover me further. This is happening to households as well. Insurance is good for the rare catastrophic event but it isn’t an option if one is hit repeatedly..My alarm system alerts me when my pub is breached. I live very close to the pub. On the second break in I missed the criminals by two minutes. I won’t be as slow next time and I won’t be responding unprotected. I can’t afford to wait..We could double or even triple the number of police officers in rural areas, it would make little difference. There are too many square miles to reasonably cover..With a larger police presence being unreasonable, it leaves it to homeowners and businesses to protect their property themselves and they will no matter what they have been told. We can’t and won’t let criminals continue to steal our property..Rural crime is a multi-faceted issue. The economy, the addiction crisis and aboriginal issues all are at play and all need to be addressed. Logistics is another issue. We will always be isolated and that makes it incumbent upon ourselves to protect our property when it is threatened. When protecting our property alone in the dark, “reasonable” force will often include a firearm as the protection of one’s person may very well come into play..We have the right to protect our property and we will do so. What we need is for our authorities to recognize this and quit victimizing citizens who are exercising their right to protect their stuff. We must focus on the criminals rather than the victims when it comes to justice. Let’s quit wasting court time on innocent victims such as Eddie Maurice and use these courts to put habitual criminals away for good..Rural citizens can’t afford to lose more “stuff” to thieves and they are going to defend it. “Call, cower and wait” isn’t good enough.
