Editor: My car has been broken into again. It is the sixth time my property has been vandalized since I moved here.
This kind of thing is a regular occurrence here in Brookswood鈥攁 quiet neighbourhood without the crack houses and grow-ops of other residential areas, but a hotbed for what the RCMP call 鈥榗rimes of opportunity鈥�.
This means that about two or three o鈥檆lock in the morning, petty thieves skulk through the neighbourhood looking into cars, carports, sheds etc. for anything they can steal. Presumably to trade for drugs or because, to their moronic little brains, it looks pretty.
Oh, I didn鈥檛 lose much of value, a small red flashlight, a pair of binoculars I use at the races, a black and yellow plastic toolbox with some automotive tools.
The sort of stuff you probably keep in your own car.
These aren鈥檛 hardened criminals 鈥� those guys are out to boost the serious stuff. No, these are kids belonging to your readers and are wandering the streets smoking pot or drinking beer in the local schoolyard. Most parents won鈥檛 see it that way of course.
鈥淣ot in Brookswood! Not our kids!鈥�
Well, folks, if you see your kids playing with a new CD player (or perhaps one of the above mentioned items) that you didn鈥檛 pay for, ask if they have receipt for it. Chances are if they can鈥檛 explain it, it鈥檚 stolen 鈥� either by them or one of their friends.
Hard words I know, but isn鈥檛 asking these questions part of parental authority?
Thank you for allowing me to say my piece. Maybe I鈥檓 just venting鈥攐r maybe I鈥檓 right.
Jim Reynolds,
Brookswood
