CRIME upDATE - NOVEMBER 2021
We have hit an annual record! However, not one we would like to try and beat. Auto theft continues to challenge our area and is showing no signs of relief. UACA continues to work with 32 Division on this issue. In the outline below there are suggested prevention techniques that may help deter your vehicle from being stolen. If you drive a Range Rover or Lexus, it is suggested reading.
AUTO THEFT
First – the numbers! In October and November, there were TWELVE auto thefts bringing the 2021 count to 53. The table below provides a snapshot of the previous three-year period. Thefts in the UACA area are up 55% in 2021 versus the same period in 2020.
If you have a Range Rover or Lexus – we encourage you to consider the following prevention techniques. We estimate that there have been eight Range Rovers stolen here in the October/November period. Another top theft target is the Lexus SUV.
Suggested Prevention Techniques:
Park in the garage.
If that is not possible, use a Faraday box/pouch to store your fob.
Layer the Faraday protection, with the use of a steering wheel locking mechanism such as the Club.
Cover your VIN so it is not visible from outside.
UACA continues to work with 32 Division and are hopeful that the work of the Auto Theft Suppression Team, implemented in September 2021, will soon begin to have a positive impact in reducing thefts. The following chart illustrates the incidents on a month-by-month basis. Simple math indicates that the value of autos stolen in our area in 2021 is greater than $4 million.
It is estimated that the City of Toronto will experience 6,000+ auto thefts in 2021.
BREAK AND ENTER
Break and enter incidents have continued a year-over-year downward trend in 2021. Year to date, there have been three house-related break and enters as well as an attempted break and enter where the resident was at home. This is very unusual based on local experience. The front of the house may not have had lights on indicating that people were home. As the days get dark earlier, it is suggested that homeowners ensure there is some lighting on in the front of the house to indicate activity. The following chart illustrates monthly break and enter activity for the past three years.
In 2021, we have seen a considerable decline in commercial-related break and enters on Avenue Road and Bathurst Street. Most of these occurred during the lockdown months.
COMMUNITY POLICE LIAISON COMMITTEE UPDATE
Kijiji Type Purchases: Many residents buy and sell articles on Kijiji-type websites. To make these transactions safer for residents, 32 Division has implemented a Buy and Sell Safe Exchange Zone where people can exchange prearranged purchases. The zone is located in the police station’s vestibule, just inside the double front doors, at 30 Ellerslie Avenue.
Porch Pirates: With the holiday season upon us, it is anticipated there will be a resurgence of porch pirate activity. Delivery services have improved their notification process and often homeowners get a text or email as soon as a package is delivered. If you are expecting a package, and know you won’t be home, it may be helpful to use the neighbour buddy system to retrieve your package to avoid a porch pirate beating you to it.
CRIME upDATE - SEPTEMBER 2021
Auto theft continues to be our primary crime concern in the UACA area with five auto thefts reported in the month of September.
In June 2021, we sent a letter to 32 Division Superintendent Bryan Bott requesting that they reinstate the Auto-Theft Suppression Team to combat the high level of auto thefts. At the Community Police Liaison Committee meeting on September 23, we were very pleased to learn that our request was somewhat successful. On September 12, a reduced team, consisting of a Detective and two Detective-Constables, was assigned to work specifically on auto theft in the 32 Division coverage area. Although this team is not as large as the disbanded team which covered many Divisions, we are very hopeful that they will make an impact and we will see a reverse trend occur as we did in late 2020. Year-to-date we have experienced 41 auto thefts versus 31 in the same period 2020. We continue to encourage residents to practice prevention techniques including parking in the garage and using a Faraday pouch/box.
The following charts and tables compare thefts year-over-year. Thefts have increased year-to-date from twenty-four in 2019 to 41 in 2021. We will continue to work with 32 Division to monitor their progress and also exert as much pressure as we can until we see a reversing trend.
The table below also includes the SAHRA area on the east side of Avenue Road.
On a positive note, break and enter incidents continue to decline. Year-to-date UACA has experienced one house break and enter. It should be noted that surrounding areas – Lawrence Park North, Lawrence Park South, and areas north of the 401, are experiencing an increase in break and enter as people return to work. Although we are hopeful that we can maintain these low numbers, we encourage everyone to be vigilant as we return to work and school.
The following chart illustrates the 2019-2021 monthly B&E’s; the chart following shows house-only B&E’s year-over-year.
The table below includes the UACA catchment area as well as SAHRA on the east side of Avenue Road.
CRIME UPDATE - FEBRUARY 2021
This is our third year doing monthly detail tracking of break and enter (B&E) and auto theft incidents. We have been compiling historic data since 2014. As a community, we have made progress on B&Es but there is still a great deal of work to do on auto theft.
THE GOOD NEWS
House B&E incidents have declined since 2017. The deluge of 49 B&E’s that we experienced in 2017 gave rise to the launch of our jointly sponsored Safety Committee (UACA and SAHRA). A few Board members being impacted helped spur this on!
The good news is - we closed out 2020 with only eight B&Es. The graph speaks for itself. Together with the Toronto Police Service (TPS), we have implemented a focused community response to help reduce these numbers. Building awareness, strengthened communication, implementing a neighbourhood watch program, the use of camera technology, and increased police reporting has all helped. We should feel good about this. In January 2021, there were zero house B&E incidents.
Note: The blue line above includes all B&E categories. Most of the difference stems from commercial B&E’s on Bathurst Street and Avenue Road. Our focus is on the red line.
THE BAD NEWS
Can auto theft get worse? We hope not. We are living in an area of the city where auto theft is active. As mentioned in earlier updates, TPS has formed an “Auto Suppression Team” to tackle this. We are seeing a related reduction in auto thefts but not to the extent we would like. Auto theft has gone from a low of nine incidents in 2016 to a high of 36 in 2020. In January 2021, we had three additional incidents. Orchestrated and executed by organized crime, within hours of thefts occurring, cars are in shipping containers on their way to overseas destinations. When TPS makes arrests, the crime positions are backfilled quickly. The chart below shows auto thefts in the city for 2021 YTD – just six weeks of activity! Each green dot represents a theft. For reference, we are in the D32 area.
The chart below illustrates auto theft for the UACA area since 2014:
In January 2021 we experienced three additional thefts, near these intersections:
January 5: Clyde and Carmichael
January 11: Bathurst and Carmichael
January 12: Grey and Glengarry
WHERE DO WE GO NEXT?
Auto Theft:
Auto theft is our primary focus for 2021. We requested a meeting with the Auto Suppression Team through our Community Police Liaison contact and have recently received confirmation that they are willing to meet. We are interested in an update on the Team’s progress and what we can do to help.
We will continue to track detailed data monthly looking for variability. We are pleased to report that the Community Police Liaison meetings will resume in the first quarter. This is a great opportunity for us to highlight what we are seeing.
Break and Enter:
Having started 2021 on good footing, we will continue to track and address monthly data as needed.
Porch Pirates:
Although we do not track porch pirate activity, social media postings have been effective in identifying specific people. If you suffer a porch pirating loss, report it on-line and include camera footage if possible.
Scams:
As we are made aware of scams, we will increase relevant postings on social media.
CRIME UPDATE - DECEMBER 2020
Major crime activity – break and enter and auto theft – continues to decline locally. Unfortunately, other types of crime are occurring and although less severe in nature, these crimes are disturbing. A summary of the Upper Avenue Community Association’s (UACA) monthly crime update appears below. For the full version click here and for a detailed listing of all auto theft and break and enter crimes click here.
AUTO THEFTS
Last month, the Auto Suppression Team at Toronto Police Service (TPS) arrested four people connected to auto theft and we have seen a drop in this activity in the UACA area. In November, there were two vehicles stolen which compares to a monthly high of eight in May. These occurred as follows:
November 16 - near Welland and Douglas
November 28 - near Allard and Carmichael
YTD, we have had 34 auto thefts in the UACA area with only three in the past two months.
BREAK AND ENTERS
In November, there was one house break and enter on November 22 in the vicinity of Sunshine and Bannockburn, the eighth in 2020 versus 13 in the same period last year.
Commercial break and enters on Avenue Road and Bathurst Street have been rising steadily through 2020. In November there were five such break and enters, all on Avenue Road. The year-to-date total is now 27 versus 15 YTD in 2019.
PORCH PIRATES
The city has been plagued with porch pirates all year and this activity is not abating. CTV reported that one in three on-line delivery packages are being stolen. In our November newsletter we offered suggestions to help curb this activity. You can read those here.
TAXI SCAM
TPS have warned of a taxi scam across the city. An area resident reported on social media that he was a victim. Details as reported by CTV news are available here.
UNLOCKED DOOR ENTRIES
Although it has not occurred in our neighbourhood, 53 Division reported that thieves have entered occupied homes during the night through unlocked doors. In some cases, the thieves entered and exited stealing wallets, purses, and clothing with residents not realizing they had been robbed until morning. Always keep your doors locked!
NIGHT CAR ENTRIES
Night car entries are an ongoing problem in our area. In most cases, when cars are locked, thieves typically move on. If you have video with good visuals of anybody attempting to access your vehicle, please email it to Bedfordparknortownnwo@gmail.com and we will forward it to our Community Police Liaison Committee contact at TPS.
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CRIME UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2020
Positive trends as we approach closing out 2020 – a decline in auto thefts and home break-ins as well as tangible outcomes resulting from efforts initiated by our Toronto Police 32 Division, with whom we collaborate. At the same time local businesses have become more vulnerable to crime due to COVID-19 induced closures. As we usher in the holiday season, we offer some helpful tips on how to curb ‘porch piracy’ and implement practical safety measures to protect our homes. Below is a summary and to read the full Safety Bulletin click HERE.
AUTO THIEVES ARRESTED
In October and first half of November, we witnessed just two auto thefts (one in our part of the Bedford Park-Nortown area near Bathurst and Deloraine) versus twelve in the previous two months (one in our portion of the catchment . This is attributable to the work of the Toronto Police Service’s “Auto Theft Suppression Team” which has just announced four arrests and the recovery of 70 vehicles.
BREAK AND ENTER
These crimes are trending down for residents and up for businesses:
One residential break and enter in October (near Ledbury and Brookdale)
Commercial break and enters are running at double 2019 levels
NEARBY SHOOTINGS
32 Division reports that shootings are up 14% over last year and there have been three known shooting just west of our neighbourhood, two of which were gang-related.
PORCH PIRATES
There is an escalating incidence of packages being stolen from front porches. Read the Safety Bulletin for tips to prevent this.
CPTED
The Toronto Police Service program Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is designed to make our homes less appealing to criminals. Read more here.
CRIME UPDATE - OCTOBER 2020
AUTO THEFT IS UP 67%!
There is lots to cover so please read on! The data in this update focuses on the period August and September 2020, as well as year to date. This month, we are combining data for the Upper Avenue Community Association (UACA) and the South Armour Heights Residents' Association (SAHRA). Jointly we comprise 90% of the Bedford Park Nortown Neighbourhood in the City of Toronto.
In this issue, we will cover:
Break and enters and auto theft - update for August/September and year to date.
What are the police doing to help?
Update on recent incidents – Yonge/Lawrence incident, car-jacking incident, shooting in the Bathurst and Wilson area.
Night car entry.
Break and Enter:
All categories of break and enters, year to date, are down 35% versus the same period in 2019. Residential break and enters are down 67% versus the same period in 2019. A great improvement!
In the August/September period we did see four residential break and enters - two in houses and two in apartments on Bathurst Street (see note below). There were also three “commercial” break and enters on Avenue Road for a total of seven in August and September.
Note: It is unknown if the Bathurst street break and enters fall within Bedford Park Nortown or Englemont-Lawrence Neighbourhoods as Bathurst is the dividing line between these two areas. We are including these break and enters in this report for transparency.
Auto Theft:
Auto theft is a serious problem in our area and is up 67% year to date versus the same period in 2019. To date we have had 40 car thefts in our combined residents’ association areas versus 24 in the same period in 2019. In August and September, we had twelve auto thefts versus three in the same period in 2019.
What are the Police Doing?
On September 29th, we met with Toronto Police to discuss auto theft and other issues. There is positive news to report on actions they are taking.
Auto theft in Toronto, City wide, is up 5% from 2019. Divisions 32, 33, and 23, however, are up 21% with the highest theft count occurring at Yonge/Finch and Yonge/Sheppard.
In mid-September, a Toronto Police Project Team was formed with Officers and Detectives specifically dedicated to auto theft. There are several police divisions participating on this Project team. Use of technology by thieves continues to be progressive. Use of relay devices to your key fob continues to be used – a Faraday pouch is a good prevention tool – as well as use of computers to pick up signals through an electrical connection located under the car's door handle. The highest number of car thefts are Lexus, Toyota, and Honda brands.
In addition to monitoring and reporting the data, we will continue to meet with police through 2020 to track their progress. As residents, we can also do our part by practicing the prevention techniques highlighted in our July update which we repeat here:
Park in the garage, if possible.
Strategically park vehicles in the driveway (less valuable vehicle blocking the more valuable).
Store your key fob in the middle of your house, in a signal-blocking container.
Never leave your vehicle running and unattended.
Install an anti-theft system in your vehicle (such as a steering wheel locking device).
Install a flood light to brighten your driveway.
Point any cameras in the direction of your driveway.
Avoid leaving valuables in the vehicle.
Avoid leaving garage door remotes in your vehicle overnight.
A detailed listing of break and enters and auto theft incidents in our area is available for review. As a reminder, we only provide data on incidents which are reported to police.
Specific Incident Updates:
Car-Jacking – A resident shared information about a car-jacking incident she experienced in June. She was returning home via Avenue Road and noticed a car following her closely. When she turned onto a side street, the car hit her car. Four men then swarmed her car and stole it along with her purse, phone, and house keys. This incident occurred during the early evening in daylight hours. A rash of these incidents occurred at the time. Since then, two people have been arrested and, to date, there have not been additional incidents reported.
Youth Incident -Yonge/Mt Pleasant-Ranleigh – this occurred on September 25th and was reported on the news. A group of youths were approached by two men - one of which had a firearm. The youths were asked to hand over valuables. An arrest has been made. No other incidents have been reported.
Restaurant Drive-By Shooting – On September 9th, a restaurant in the vicinity of Bathurst/Wilson experienced a drive-by shooting. This was a targeted shooting by gangs. No arrests have been made.
Night Car Entry Incidents:
Throughout July and August, we have been tracking the social media postings for night car entry - specifically, incidents where cars are opened (unlocked and sometimes locked) and contents rifled through (not theft of auto).
During this period, we tracked 16 incidents and shared this with the police. Police are very aware this is occurring. Arrests have been made but perpetrators have been released the following day. They then return and start the routine all over again. The police are equally frustrated.
We will continue to track these incidents and forward to Toronto Police, Division 32. In addition, residents are encouraged to PLEASE LOCK YOUR CAR! If residents experience an incident, and have good video coverage showing the person(s) responsible, they can email the information to the Bedford Park Nortown Neighbourhood Watch Online email at Bedfordparknortownnwo@gmail.com indicating the date, and closest intersection/address. We will forward on to police. Responsibility for reporting incidents to the police remains with residents.
In the absence of the monthly Community Police Liaison meetings, previously held, we will continue to meet with Police as required and report back to our memberships.
Please forward any questions you may have to: info@uaca.ca
CRIME UPDATE - AUGUST 2020
The Bedford Park - Nortown Neighbourhood Watch Online program covers both the SAHRA catchment area as well as the Upper Avenue Community Association (UACA) catchment area.
For the benefit of each of our memberships, we provide data from the Toronto Police Service specific to each resident association. A complete listing of break and enters and auto theft for the Bedford Park-Nortown Neighbourhood Watch can be accessed by clicking this link.
Highlights for July:
The UACA area had one auto theft in July. Year to date we have experienced 21 auto thefts in our area. This compares with 15 in the same period in 2019. The theft occurred in the general vicinity of Grey and Melrose on July 23.
We continue to experience night car entries across the entire area. The majority (not all) of these occur when cars are unlocked. Videos of attempted car entries indicate that if cars are locked perpetrators move on to the next cars.
There were zero residential break and enters in July with our total year to date remaining at 3. We have now had two consecutive months of zero residential break and enter crimes. Of the three year-to-date, two were in single family homes and 1 in an apartment. In the same period in 2019, we had 13 residential break and enters- 8 in single family homes and 5 in apartments.
Toronto Police Service are also reporting one commercial break and enter in July in our area. This occurred at Avenue Road and Dunblaine.
If you have experienced a break and enter or auto theft in July, that was reported to Toronto Police, however is not reflected in our data, please let us know at info@upperavenuecommunity.com.
With the COVID constraints, our monthly Community Police Liaison Committee meetings continue to be cancelled. We are hopeful that these will resume in some format as the City has moved to Stage 3 management of COVID
If there is additional information you would like to see on safety reporting – please email us info@upperavenuecommunity.com. We will try to accommodate the request.
If you wish to receive these updates by email,
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CRIME UPDATE - JULY 2020
The Bedford Park - Nortown Neighbourhood Watch Online Program covers both the South Armour Heights Residents’ Association (SAHRA) catchment area as well as the Upper Avenue Community Association (UACA) catchment area.
For the benefit of each of our memberships, we provide data from the Toronto Police Service specific to each resident association. A complete listing of break and enters and auto theft for the Bedford Park-Nortown Neighbourhood Watch can be accessed by clicking this link.
For transparency, we mention that we have modified how we are reporting break and enter crimes for homes. In the past we separated out apartments and single-family houses. We have now reclassified this to “residential”. We will continue to show the detail for the two categories. Our 2019 comparisons have been updated to reflect this change.
Auto theft continues to be prevalent across the City of Toronto as well as other parts of Canada. On July 15th, CTV featured a report showing how thieves gain access to locked cars using computer relays to individuals’ key fobs. Please click this link to find this article together with a video showing this type of crime in action. Toronto Police are suggesting that individuals move their key fobs into the interior of their homes or store them in faraday bags. Faraday bags are available at most security stores or online.
Highlights for June:
The UACA area had 4 auto thefts in June. One incident occurred in May but was reported in June. Year to date we have experienced 20 auto thefts in our area. The June incidents occurred at the following general locations:
May 23 – Dunblaine and Avenue Road
June 20 – Old Orchard and Weetwood
June 21 – Ledbury and Fairlawn
June 29 – Fairlawn and Avenue Road
There were zero residential break and enters in June with our total year to date remaining at three. Two were in single family homes and one in an apartment. In the same period 2019, we had ten residential break and enters - six in single family homes and four in apartments.
Toronto Police Service also reported zero commercial break and enters in June for the entire Bedford Park-Nortown Neighbourhood watch area. This includes Avenue Road and Bathurst between Wilson and Lawrence.
If you have experienced a break and enter or auto theft in June and it is not reflected in our data, please let us know at info@uaca.ca
With the COVID constraints, our monthly Community Police Liaison Committee meetings continue to be cancelled. We hope that they will resume, in some form, in September and have asked for interim reports in the meantime.
If there is additional information you would like to see on safety reporting – please email us. We will try to accommodate your request.
CRIME UPDATE - JUNE 2020
The Bedford Park Nortown Neighbourhood Watch Program covers the catchment areas of both the South Armour Heights Residents’ Association and the Upper Avenue Community Association (UACA).
For the benefit of each of our memberships, we provide data from the Toronto Police Service specific to each association. The following is an update for the UACA area.
Break and Enters (B&E’s):
There have been ten B&E’s in the January to May 2020 time-frame. Only two of the ten were in single family homes. This compares to six in the same period in 2019. The two family home B&Es occurred in the vicinity of the following intersections:
March 4 – Woburn and Ledbury
May 11 – Burncrest and Kelso
We have seen an increase in commercial B&E’s during the COVID 19 lockdown period: a total of six in the January to May period, all having occurred within the COVID 19 time-frame (this covers all of Bedford Park Nortown area). In addition to the commercial and home B&E’s there has been one in an apartment and one “other”.
Auto-Theft:
In the January to May 2020 period, there have been 16 auto thefts in the UACA area. This compares to 11 in the same time-frame in 2019 – a 45% increase. The thefts occurred in the vicinity of the following intersections:
January 1 – Carmichael and Falkirk
January 3 – Avenue Rd and St. Germain
January 5 – Brookdale and Barse
February 2 – Joicey and Clyde
March 1 – Bannockburn and Ledbury
March 30 – Dunblaine and Falkirk
March 30 – Brooke and Falkirk
April 20 – Glengarry and Avenue Rd.
April 22 – Sunshine and Bannockburn
April 28 – Woburn and Avenue Rd.
May 3 – Sunshine and Bannockburn
May 5 – Brooke and Falkirk
May 17 – Cranbrooke and Grey
May 22 – Woburn and Grey
May 23 – Bedford Pk. And Grey
May 26 – Melrose and Barse
On June 10th the co-chairs of the Neighbourhood Watch Program held a conference call with Sgt. Jon Collin of 32 Division to discuss auto theft and the trending we are seeing. This is a Toronto-wide / Canada-wide problem and multiple levels of police are working on it. Sgt. Collin provided a list of preventive techniques that homeowners can follow. It is worth taking the time to review them. These include:
Park in the garage, if possible.
Strategically park vehicles in the driveway (less valuable vehicle blocking the more valuable).
Store your key fob in the middle of your house, in a signal-blocking container.
Never leave your vehicle running and unattended.
Install an anti-theft system in your vehicle (such as a steering wheel locking device).
Install a flood light to brighten your driveway.
Point any cameras in the direction of your driveway.
Avoid leaving valuables in the vehicle.
Avoid leaving garage door remotes in your vehicle overnight.
A tracking system in the vehicle will not prevent a theft, however it may greatly assist police in recovering your vehicle and apprehending the thieves.
We will be updating the crime data monthly. A complete listing of all B&Es and auto thefts in 2020 for the Bedford Park-Nortown Neighbourhood Watch area can be found by clicking here.
If you have experienced a B&E or auto theft in the January to May period that is not listed above, please let us know. If there is additional information you would like to see, please email: info@uaca.ca. We will try to accommodate your request.