The COVID19 pandemic has resulted in thieves becoming more desperate and that is reflected in the Sunshine Coast statistics in the first quarter of the year.
Sunshine Coast RCMP Staff Sergeant Poppy Hallam, through the 2020-21 RCMP Strategic Plan, reported that break and enters increased from nine in the first quarter of last year, to 25 in the first quarter of 2020.
Another statistic of interest saw the Sunshine Coast RCMP issue 47 violation tickets in the first quarter of this year, as compared to 123 over the same period of last year.
Hallam says officers spend a lot of time tracking serious crime and prolific offenders and that has given the public a perception that the RCMP is less visible in the community.
She also mentioned that the general investigation teams she oversees are covert right now and the public wouldn’t know where they are.
