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Crowd of 100 hears police chief warn about crime

Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson

Havre Police Department Detective and Community Policing Liaison Ryan Pearson talks to Havre residents attending a Neighborhood Watch meeting Wednesday evening in the Havre Middle School Auditorium.

After a recent spurt of theft and property damage, Highland Park residents met with Havre Police Department officials Wednesday night to learn about what they can do.

Nearly 100 people managed to navigate through the new construction in the neighborhood to gather in the Havre Middle School Auditorium to hear updates on current investigations from Police Chief Kirk Fitch and advice on how to avoid or prevent more crime from Community Policing Liaison Ryan Pearson.

"I've never seen this number of people at a startup before, " Fitch said, "or show this much interest. "

Fitch said he understood people's concerns, not only as a police officer, but as a resident of the neighborhood.

Several of the investigations have suspects, and some have been arrested already, according to Fitch and Pearson, but what seemed to tie the theft cases was that they were "crimes of opportunity. " Every car that was stolen from was unlocked, with the stolen goods easily visible.

"Maybe 20 years, 15 years ago people left their keys in their car, left their car unlocked or their windows down, " Fitch said. "But I'm here to tell you, things have changed. "

As to where the changes have come from Fitch said he wasn't sure but it could be the effect of the explosion of activity in the Bakken oil fields, or gang activity coming all the way from Yakima, Wash., or just an unfortunate side effect of population growth.

Another problem with theft in Havre that concerned Fitch was the lack of a clear ordinance on how pawn shops should handle stolen goods. He said there are some state codes, but they're too vague. He's working on an ordinance now to present to the Havre City Council.

Until then, Fitch encourages people to keep records of anything they own worth more than $100, writing down make, model, serial numbers, identifying marks or characteristics and taking pictures. Otherwise "it becomes a real investigative nightmare. It could take years to get property back, " Fitch said.

Another part of the investigative nightmare is the backed-up state crime lab that can take more than nine months to process any fingerprints or DNA evidence that can be gathered. And more serious crimes always get bumped up in the list.

"Most property crimes they won't even bother with, " Fitch said.

 

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