Behind the Badge

Between Monday, July 2, 2007 and Sunday, July 8, 2007, Windsor District RCMP was busy answering 155 calls for service, down only one from the previous week.

Of these complaints, there were nine false alarms and seven misdialed 911 calls. Please be careful with telephones and alarms. When emergency services (Fire, Ambulance, Police) respond to these types of alarms and calls, it ties them up when they could be needed elsewhere to deal with an emergency.

There were 14 traffic-related complaints, 11 impaired driving complaints and nine reported motor vehicle crashes. Some of these complaints are still under investigation.

Police also responded to seven incidents of disturbing the peace as well as seven complaints of damage to property. Eight complaints of theft under $5,000 were received that are currently under investigation. There were three reports of found property and one report of theft of a vehicle.

In relation to break and enter complaints, five reports came in regarding businesses, one into a vacant house, and five vehicles were broken into. All of these are still under investigation.

There were six reports of assault, six reports of uttering threats and three complaints under the Liquor Control Act.

Finally, please be vigilant when it comes to scams. One of the ‘classics’ is where someone calls identifying themselves as a security employee with a credit card company like MasterCard or VISA.

They state an unauthorized purchase has been made on your card and want to credit it back to your account. They won’t ask for your credit card number on the front, but will ask for the last three numbers on the back of your card. Do not give it out…if you do, they have access to your credit card and will make purchases. The credit card companies already have all these numbers and there’s no reason for them to call and ask.

There are a few things you can do if this happens to you: 1. hang up; 2. Call your credit card company using the phone number on your statement or back of your credit card; 3. Call PHONE BUSTERS toll-free at 1-888-495-8501 or go to their website at www.phonebusters.com.

None of these types of complaints have been received lately by Windsor District RCMP, but it’s always good to remind ourselves to be careful when dealing with situations relating to our personal security and well-being.