It's hard for many people to think of one positive thing that's emerged from 2020 and even tougher to come up with anything good that's come about because of the pandemic.  

While Airdrie RCMP Corporal Tammy Keibel doesn't have any hard facts on whether or not COVID-19 is responsible for a decrease in property crimes in the city this year from 2019, she suspects it might be that criminals are seeing less benefit in committing those crimes during the pandemic.

Keibel provided statistics from July 1st - September 30th, 2020 compared with the same period last year showing that in three areas, business break-ins, thefts from motor vehicles, and reports of suspicious people who might have been out looking for criminal opportunities.  All three of those sectors showed a marked decrease in 2020 from the level in the same period last year.

"From July 1st through September 30th in 2019, there were 26 reported break-ins to businesses, and this year, in 2020 over the same time frame there was only 20," Keibel explains.  "In 2019, over the same period, there were 150 complaints of thefts from motor vehicles whereas this year in the same time frame there were 87 incidents.  Regarding suspicious persons, vehicle or property, in 2019 there were 450 reported incidents compared to 366 incidents this year over the same time frame which was July 1st to September 30th."

Keibel says there could be a number of reasons to attribute to the year-to-year drop in crime.  One reason seems fairly obvious to her.  "The one reason that sticks out for me is just the current COVID situation.  A lot more people are home, and this is relating to the business break-ins as well.  There just may not be the same opportunity for those."

Keibel also credits Airdronians for keeping a better watch on their properties and keeping an eye out for their neighbours and reporting suspicious activity that they see.

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