Somerset ward residents say there has been an increase in vagrants trespassing onto residential properties to search for returnable alcohol bottles.
Instances of property crime in Somerset ward increased by more than 100 reported cases in 2011, according to a report released by Ottawa police last month.
The Ottawa police Crime Trends report is released on a yearly basis to help police paint an overall picture of crime.
The report is divided into five main categories of crime data: crimes against the person, crimes against property, other Criminal Code offenses and drug offenses.
But residents, such as Shannon Mannion, are more concerned with the criminal offenses that go under-reported or un-reported.
Since the introduction of the wine, spirit and cooler bottle returns to beer stores in 2007, Mannion says she and her neighbours on Florence Street have seen an increase in vagrants trespassing on residential properties in an attempt to steal these bottles.
Some residents don’t mind leaving their empty alcohol bottles out for vagrants to take and sell, but for those who want to return the bottles themselves, the issue has become somewhat of a safety concern, says Const. Khoa Hoang, the Centretown community liaison officer.
“The more we allow these people to trespass, the more they will take advantage of these opportunities when no one’s looking,” Hoang says. Mannion says the incentive of alcohol bottles is provoking vagrants to commit other small thefts that can yield a quick and easy profit.
She says on average, her car is broken into three times a year and, each time, only small items are stolen.
“They’re combing through the yards and whatever they see they take,” Mannion says.
Thefts of either alcohol bottles or other small items often go unreported because most people feel these don’t deserve immediate police attention.
Hoang says residents don’t want to make the effort to report something that seems so small and insignificant.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes says these higher rates of trespassing and minor theft in one neighbourhood do not indicate an overall increase in theft or trespassing for the entire ward.
She says in these specific cases, members of the community have to come together to find a solution that works for everyone involved.
Hoang agrees and applauds the efforts of community activists such as Mannion, who brought the issue of vagrant trespassing and minor theft to the Central West District Community Safety Meeting last year.
One possible solution that came from that meeting was to limit the number of returnable bottles people can bring back to the Beer Store at one time, making it more difficult to sustain oneself on bottles alone.
Another solution would be to establish a bottle-return policy at the LCBO as well as the Beer Store, to try and make it easier for residents to return their bottles themselves.
“I’ve always encouraged my community to try new things, to come together to find resolutions,” Hoang says.
But until a consensus is reached for the entire neighbourhood, the issue will continue.
As long as one person leaves their bottles out for vagrants to take, there will always be vagrants looking for more, Mannion says.