Teen vandalism getting out of hand in Campbell River
Cortes Currents
English - October 26, 2021 14:31 - 3 minutes - 7.49 MBNews cortes island discovery islands quadra food security energy indigenous nations Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Teen vandalism is getting out of hand in Campbell River.
“In the last year we've had teens shoot out people's windows with pellet guns, throwing rocks through windows, steal or move traffic control devices (creating very dangerous situations on the roadways), breaking fences, smashing peoples lawn lights, and spray painting and keying cars,” said RCMP Cst. Maury Tyre. “In September 2021, a group of teens between the ages of 13 and 15 were drunk behind the new Campbell River Soccer Field House and chose to break the siding on the building for no apparent reason.”
RCMP are too busy with higher priority crimes, like robberies and sex assaults, to maintain a constant surveillance of the local parks, neighbourhoods, and construction sites where these acts of mischief occur.
Tyre reminded the public that some family’s budgets are so tight that the cost of paying for a new window might mean less food on the table that month. Or the stress of dealing with these incidents could be the final straw that results in someone having a nervous breakdown.
“Parents, guardians, please take the time to sit down with your kids and talk about what is going on in the community and what is acceptable,” said Tyre.
Photo credit: Cst. Maury Tyre talking about vandalism - courtesy the Campbell River RCMP facebook page
He added, “That's how we learnt not to disrespect other people and their homes” when “we were all young and foolish.”