After two years of pilot programs, the Break and Enter Auto Theft, also known as B.E.A.T, became a permanent fixture within the Guelph Police Service (GPS) in January.
Headed by Insp. Steve Gill and Staff Sgt. Ben Bair, B.E.A.T solved a slew of crimes in the first 20 days of operations.
During Thursday's Guelph Police Services Board meeting, Bair outlined the effectiveness of the program.
The day-to-day operations of the unit are overseen by Bair, who has been with the GPS for over 22 years.
Since January of 2019, Guelph has seen over 500 vehicles stolen, of which 350 were recovered. During that same period, GPS has seen over 1,500 calls for service related to break and enters.
“Over the last year, there has been a recent rise of commercial break and enters in comparison to residential break and enters, likely due to fewer people leaving their homes unattended and more businesses left empty due to COVID measures,” he said.
Bair said he anticipates this trend to reverse and the residential break and enters will once again become more common.
“This community has been suffering from this type of crime, and as police, we see it daily and the terrible impact it has on its victims,” said Bair.
In the first 20 days, approximately 20 arrests occurred, 83 charges were laid and a total value of over $70,000 in stolen property has been recovered.
The team has conducted four search warrants in the downtown core, all at a “well-known apartment building.”
“In terms of stolen vehicles they’ve already solved five cases, one of these involved a stolen vehicle from the downtown and ultimately two people were arrested and the vehicle recovered,” said Blair. “In another case, after there had been a recent glut of thefts of Lexus vehicles in January, the B.E.A.T team investigated a male they believed to have stolen a Lexus, the subsequently located the Lexus and arrested the male.”
The arrested male was wanted on over 100 charges.
Four break and enter cases have been solved resulting in three arrests.
A recent investigation that resulted in nine arrests saw the recovery of multiple laptops that belonged to the Upper Grand District School Board.
Over $10,000 worth of illicit drugs have also been recovered, along with a firearm and three replica firearms.
Bair said of the five-person team, which consists of a sergeant and four constables, the officers are local and well known.
Guelph mayor Cam Guthrie said these numbers are not surprising, but thanked Bair and Gill for the problem-solving and making this team a permanent fixture.
GPS Chief Gord Cobey said the need in the community was clear and wanted the community to know there was a rationale and governance put into thought before new teams are built.
“I think it is important to understand why this team is a significant addition and what has gotten us to where we are today,” said Bair. “Also, I think it's important to understand many property crimes are closely linked or related to drug-related crimes.”
Bair said this is an important note to make as future press releases from the GPS will show the B.E.A.T team will be making drug seizures as well as property recovery.
“Drug trafficking is essentially cash business, however, in some cases traffickers will take in stolen property if the value can still be converted to cash. That doesn't mean in all cases property crime is related to drug crime, but it is very common.”