Posted on October 22, 2020

Over the last few weeks we’ve received a number of emails from residents across Cabbagetown, advising us of safety and security issues in our neighbourhood. Our partner residents associations in Winchester Park and Cabbagetown South are also seeing an uptick in crime in their catchment areas.

Some of the things we have heard recently:

• People following delivery trucks around Cabbagetown in their own cars and stealing boxes off of porches – directly after they’ve been delivered!

An increase in the number of:

• Home invasions, during the day and night.
• Assaults/sexual assaults on streets and in parks, sometimes in broad daylight.
• Bicycle thefts, back laneway car break-ins/thefts and garage break-ins/thefts.

I should point out that most of the more serious crimes identified above are not, to our knowledge, occurring regularly in the CRA catchment area (St James Cemetery to Gerrard, Parliament to the Don River). However, if you are out and about in the neighbourhood, it’s simply a reminder to stay vigilant, safe and sound.

TIPS ON THINGS TO DO TO REDUCE CRIME

Here are a few commonsense tips on how to stay safe and secure:

• Don’t walk or take pets out late at night/very early in the morning. If you have to, walk with someone else.
• Parking on the street? Make sure nothing is visible in you car. Even a small amount of change can be enough for someone to smash your window.
• Make sure that your back gates and garages are securely locked and bolted at all times.
• Store bicycles out of site and securely locked, ideally indoors.
• Ensure that all entry/exit doors and downstairs windows are locked at all times.
• Secure outdoor furniture and garden decor whenever possible to deter thieves from stealing them.
•  Invest in an alarm system if you don’t have one, ideally connected to a monitoring provider. 
• Install video cameras at the front and back of your house, or at least a video doorbell  (well known brands include Ring, Arlo, Blink, Nest).
•  Lighting is a great way to deter intruders from coming onto your property. Go outside your residence after dark and do an audit. Are there dark spots? Do the bushes and trees need to be trimmed?  Consider installing security lights in back laneways and/or front and back gardens. You can now get inexpensive and effective solar-powered options with motion detection that are a breeze to install.
• Have parcels delivered to local depots like Penguin Pick-up or the Post Office (for Amazon), or elect for signature on delivery, so the parcel is not left on your doorsteps.
• Report any streetlights that are out in your neighbourhood. Especially the lights in our alleyways They all have individual numbers and it’s important that they all remain operational. 

REPORTING A CRIME IS CRITICAL

It’s really important to report ALL crimes. The more the police know about them, the more local police we have and the more patrols they do. But remember, getting an incident number assigned is all important. Once your report has an incident number, it becomes part of the crime statistics. Here’s all the different ways you can report crimes in our neighbourhood.