Break-and-enter county clearance rate double provincial average

Break and enter breakthrough. Insp. Gerry Salsibury, detachment commander for the Lanark County OPP, reported that the break-and-enter clearance rate is down across the board in the county. Here, he delivers his report at the Lanark County police services board association's quarterly meeting on Dec. 5 at the Carleton Place arena. Desmond Devoy

Break-and-enter clearance rates are going up across the county.

The Lanark County OPP is reporting that, by the end of the third quarter of this year, Beckwith Township had a 50 per cent clearance rate for break-and-enters, with Carleton Place at 44 per cent, Lanark Highlands Township at 38 per cent, and Tay Valley Township at 67 per cent.

“It’s a really good news story,” said Insp. Gerry Salisbury, the Lanark County OPP detachment commander, during the county police services board association meeting at the Carleton Place arena on Wednesday, Dec. 5.

In total, the county-wide clearance rate for the theft clearance rate had risen to 25 per cent from the 10 per cent for the same quarter last year.

As he spoke, Salisbury revealed that they OPP already had a suspect on their radar for a series of break-and-enters in lower Tay Valley and Sharbot Lake.

Salisbury also noted that the OPP will start joint patrols with the Perth Police Service in January, in the follow-up to the official April 1 handover. With members of the Perth force heading off for training at the OPP academy in early in March for three weeks, the OPP will fill the gap until their comardes’ return.

The Lanark County OPP will also be holding interviews soon to bring its auxiliary unit up to full strength with 19 members.

Former Carleton Place police officer Wayne Drummond, representing that town’s police services board, said that he appreciated the sterling work done by the four auxiliary officers and two regular officers at the World Broomball Championships closing ceremonies at the Beckwith Recreation Complex last month.

“They do a wonderful job,” said Drummond.

There will be a new auxiliary office opened in Perth, to compliment the existing Carleton Place office.

The festive RIDE program is also in full swing, running until Jan. 2.

“You’re going to see a lot of RIDE programs out there,” said Salisbury.

He noted that RIDE programs are now operating at different times of the day and night.

“I always get asked why we do them in the day,” said Salisbury. “Because that’s when we get impaired drivers,” he said, usually people who have just enjoyed a liquid lunch, or, for early morning RIDE stops, people who had been drinking into the wee hours of the morning, and, though they had slept it off, were still hung over.

“We get more violations during the day than we do at night,” said Salisbury.

The next county police service board association meetings will be held on:

• Wednesday, March 6, in Lanark Highlands
• Wednesday, June 5, in Mississippi Mills
• Wednesday, Sept. 4, in Montague Township
• Wednesday, Dec. 4, in Tay Valley Township

All meetings commence at 9 a.m.