Commentary
At one of those meetings, a
Toronto police officer said this: “To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs by your front door. Because they’re breaking into your homes to steal your car. They don’t want anything else.”
In other words, he told citizens to
give up and make it easier for criminals to steal their property. The police are sounding the retreat in battling crime and telling people to give up their property while praying that’s all the home invaders may want.
The
Toronto Police Service backtracked somewhat on March 13 following an outcry on social media, saying that while the officer’s advice
was “well meaning, there are better ways to prevent auto theft-motivated home invasions” and offered a link with safety tips.
However, that a police officer would even say such a thing in the first place is bizarre and chilling, and I have heard very similar advice from police before.
Rural crime was spiking in my part of Alberta in 2018. A young father named Eddie Maurice was home alone with his toddler when a pair of intruders entered his property. When Maurice stepped outside, the intruders rushed the home. A ricochet from a warning shot from Eddie’s .22 rifle hit one of the intruders in the forearm and they fled. Maurice called the RCMP and they arrived a few hours later with a tactical team to arrest Maurice and lay a pile of charges upon him. Local citizens were furious, and after many court appearances in a courthouse surrounded by protesters in support of Maurice, the
Crown prosecutor sheepishly dropped all charges.
The RCMP in Foothills County held several town hall meetings in light of the event and they were packed. At one I attended, people kept asking what they could do to protect their property. They were warned if they confronted any thieves, they would likely be charged whether they used a dog, a baseball bat, or a paintball gun. Firearms were out of the question. The crowd wasn’t accepting this advice well and in response to the grumbling, the exasperated officer on the stage said: “Look! It’s just stuff! Let it go. You can get more stuff.”
That’s when people started walking out of the room.
Our property isn’t just “stuff” that should be given away to thieves. In rural areas, that “stuff” is often comprised of tools needed to earn a living like chainsaws and welders. People have worked hard to buy and accumulate that “stuff.” It’s not unreasonable for them to feel they have a right to keep it, and to defend it. Insurance premiums were skyrocketing due to thefts, and some companies were refusing to cover stolen property due to it. People couldn’t afford to just let it go.
Police forces are overwhelmed. They have limited resources and are dealing with Canada’s revolving door justice system releasing chronic criminals as fast as they can arrest them. The intruders who tried to rob Eddie Maurice both had extensive criminal records, and both were
arrested later for new crimes. Police officers don’t want to see shootouts between homeowners and thieves, and they would rather tell people to let their property go than take a risk. I can understand where the police are coming from, but I can’t accept it.
One of the prime duties of the state is to protect citizens from crime. If the state is derelict in that duty, it is incumbent upon citizens to protect themselves and their property. While police forces hate to admit it,
Canadians have the legal right to protect both their property and themselves by force if need be. This right must be applied within reason, of course. A person could and would be charged with murder if they shot a hubcap thief in the back. A person has the right to respond with a degree of force if intruders are kicking in the door of their home, however. It’s a subjective area of the law.
If law enforcement can’t or won’t protect the property of citizens, citizens should be counselled on how to responsibly protect the property themselves. It is irresponsible to tell people to just give up their property to thieves. Thieves will only become more emboldened, and let’s not pretend they will all just stop after harvesting car keys conveniently placed in a bowl by the front door as the Toronto police feel they should be. They will venture more deeply into the home looking for more, and things will get worse.
Canada’s flaccid justice system needs reform, particularly when it comes to repeat criminal offenders. Police forces may need more resources as well to reduce property crimes.
In the meantime, though, citizens have the need and the right to do what they can to protect their property. They can’t afford to give up as the police advise, nor should they. That’s just an invitation to true anarchy and abandoning citizens to the criminals.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
