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As part of National Police Week 2012, we're presenting "To Catch a Thief," a mock investigation of a break and enter into a residence. We’ll be profilng the units involved in the investigation from the onset of the crime through to the conclusion at court. Along with the in-depth look at how a break and enter investigation unfolds, we’ll also provide simple tips that will help homeowners and renters protect their homes from thieves.
Other Installments
Thanks for following our mock investigation over the last week! It’s always nice when an investigation runs as smoothly as this one did! The reality is, however, not all the pieces fall into place quite so easily which can make an investigation take a bit more time to resolve.
Dotting the i's and crossing the t's can take time
For example, sometimes “Ident” doesn’t always have blood or a fingerprint as evidence. If they do, it can take weeks and even months for the evidence to be analyzed. Equally, investigators at any given time may be investigating other files while investigating your file. What’s important to remember is they work day in and day out to chase leads and follow up with any information that’s continuously coming across their desks. And they’ll call to keep you in the loop if anything comes up.
We need your help!
Also people may not want to be a witness or give a statement. That’s understandable as there’s the fear of retaliation and others just don’t want to get involved. One way to curb some of these concerns is to start or join a Neighbourhood Watch Program in your community. “What is a Neighbourhood Watch Program?” you may ask. Neighbourhood Watch is a program which helps to reduce crime in your community. All members of Neighbourhood Watch are assigned a personal identification number (PIN). This allows you to remain anonymous when calling in an incident. All you have to do is tell the dispatcher who you are by using your Neighbourhood Watch PIN! For more information and how to become a member of Neighbourhood Watch, check out http://www.halifax.ca/Police/Programs/neighbourhoodwatch.html.
You might be the missing piece
One of the common things we hear is, “I didn’t want to bother the police with some minor problem.” What you might think is nothing could really be something for us! Think of it as a puzzle. You know how frustrating it is to be almost done a puzzle only to find you’re missing a piece? That’s sometimes how policing can be! Seeing a suspicious person may not seem like a big deal to you but for police, it could mean everything! You may be our missing piece! So we encourage people to call us or their Community Response Officers (CRO) who are in the area and keep us in the loop! Don’t know your CRO? Check out each division and see who’s serving your neighbourhood!
Keeping you informed and up-to-date
Halifax Regional Police is using social media more and more. With the information highway becoming more and more web based, we’ve joined in to help keep people informed and up-to-date. With our Facebook page(facebook.com/HalifaxRegionalPolice), and Twitter account (Twitter@HfxRegPolice), we can tell you what’s going on quickly. It also gives HRM residents a chance to engage with police and stay informed about policing and public safety in our community.
Thanks for helping us celebrate Police Week! Stay tuned for future stories and events from our home to yours!
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