OLDS — RCMP have revived two projects that were put on hold earlier this year due to the pandemic lockdown.
One, held Sept. 12, is called the licence plate security project.
Staff Sgt. Jim MacDonald, the commanding officer of the Olds RCMP detachment, announced the project during a presentation to council on Sept. 8.
The purpose of the project, coordinated between RCMP and victim services, is to ensure drivers’ licence plates are secured with special screws so criminals can’t steal them.
“Criminals will often steal licence plates and then put them on stolen vehicles to avoid apprehension,” MacDonald said.
He said plans call for the service to be offered in Didsbury and Sundre as well.
RCMP also want to revive HEAT (Help End Auto Theft), held previously in Olds in August 2019.
Under that program, RCMP, along with members of COP (Citizens On Patrol) make sure vehicles are “target hardened” so thieves won’t steal them or items in them.
That involves making sure vehicle doors are locked, and that no property is visible to tempt thieves.
“We were hoping to do that again this summer but of course that was put on hold,” MacDonald said.
“Depending on how things play through with schools reopening and the pandemic and the potential of the second wave, that’s something we’re examining for the fall, but we’re going to do a little bit of a wait and see because of the nature of volunteers helping us out with that,” he added.
“Certainly with COP we have some elderly volunteers and we know that’s a higher risk group so we don’t want to run any sort of risk at all.”
MacDonald said the detachment received two calls related to COVID-19; both during the second quarter this year (April 1-June 30).
Both calls were requests for police to check up on people living in Olds who had returned from international travel.
The idea is to make sure those people are abiding by requirements to be quarantined after arriving here.
“In all cases so far, everybody has been abiding by the requirements to isolate and quarantine,” he said.
