Zorra Residents Fed Up With Recent Crime Wave

Friday, 2 August 2019 at 11:28

A recent crime wave in Zorra Township has residents and the Mayor concerned.

ZORRA TOWNSHIP - Residents in Zorra Township are concerned after a recent crime wave in the community.

We have seen plenty of thefts from cars and homes in Thamesford and surrounding areas recently. However the real concern happened two nights ago when police were searching for three people considered to be armed and dangerous.

Mayor Marcus Ryan says residents are starting to get a little worried.

"I have heard from a lot of residents through social media, email and one on one, you name it, staff are concerned as well. It is very unsettling, the reason a lot of us live in Zorra, and our small villages like Thamesford, because we are willing to live in a place that is quieter, with some less services but because it is quieter and we hope that it would have less issues with crime. Lately we have had quite the rash, especially in Thamesford but also on our rural roads of vehicle break and enters and then two nights ago it seemed to escalate to something closer to violent crime."

Ryan recommends citizens to get involved in the Zorra Policing Committee.

"In the short term, we got excellent support from the OPP the other night, there was a very strong and fast presence in the village of Thamesford to look for those suspects. In the long term Zorra, has had for a number of years, a community policing committee, which is a committee of council that hears concerns from residents about all kinds of police related activity like vehicle issues, accidents, break and enters and thefts. We do have OPP representation on that committee and we try to figure out what our the best practices, best advice from our staff, from OPP and from other communities that have other issues and try to find ways forward."

Last week Ryan appeared in an OPP video, asking residents to take certain precautions like locking your doors, never leaving valuables in your car, pocketing your keys and reporting suspicious activity in your neighbourhood to police.

Here is Ryan's Facebook comment on the incident from the other night.