KENORA — During the Shake the Lake event in Kenora over the long weekend, Kenora OPP received a call for service regarding a stolen e-bike.
With quick thinking and surveillance tools, Constable Philip Mays found the stolen e-bike within hours.
“After an E-bike was stolen during Shake the Lake, the Kenora OPP utilized the tools available and located it, and returned it to the owner undamaged. #georgeorwell1984 Thanks to the #manitobarcmp for the assist,” Mays wrote on the OPP Northwest Region Facebook page.
With the available surveillance equipment at the OPP’s disposal, police tracked down the theft by looking at the municipal cameras on Bernier Drive where the event took place.
The image showed a truck used during the heist. OPP’s Automated License Plate Recognition System did the rest.
“We were able to track down a vehicle involved in the theft and some individuals were presented on the camera and then, with assistance from Manitoba RCMP, we received contact information for the registered owner of the vehicle, which we believe was involved in the theft,” Mays told NWONewswatch.
“After speaking with that individual, we were able to ascertain a location or a possible location where we thought that the individuals were who had the e-bike.
"While patrolling out that way, we came across that vehicle on the TransCanada highway.
"A traffic stop was initiated and the e-bike was recovered in the back of the vehicle.”
Since it was registered in Manitoba, Mays asked the RCMP for the vehicle owner's information.
He admits no formal charges were laid on the individual who stole the bike.
Seeing the culprits were youths and the e-bike wasn’t damaged, both the owner of the e-bike and Mays decided it was best to leave it up to the parents to deal with the punishment.
Nevertheless, what is captured, is how technology has simplified police investigations by taking out some of the guesswork involved in analyzing the situation.
“It definitely plays a part in either quickly telling whether or not some stories we get told are true, and we can ascertain on the camera whether or not it was factual,” said Mays.
Mays likened the investigation to George Orwell’s controversial novel 1984. The story is a dystopian and cautionary tale that centres on the consequences of fascism, mass surveillance, and repressive control of people and behaviours within society.
The novel has made it to several banned book lists in Canada and the United States for its “pro-communist” themes, as well as for sexual content.
Additionally, Orwell was very well known for being anti-Soviet.
When asked why he used the hashtag in his Facebook post, the officer said, “Like when I told the parents of the child, I said in today's world, nothing goes unaccounted for.
"There's always somebody recording something. There are cameras in the city. There are cameras in every police car, and everyone has a cell phone with a camera on it,” explained Mays.
“So, just because you're from out of province or you're not from the city and you think you might be able to get away with doing something like this, there's always somebody that saw something or some camera that captured something. You just always have to be mindful of doing the right thing.”
Mays also pointed out to the parents that once he had the vehicle's information, his investigation into the individual's whereabouts was based on a simple Google search.
“One individual, I mean, it was easy to find once we had the owner of the vehicle's information.
"I was then able to find the most likely suspect of his children based on social media. I found them on social media and their LinkedIn profiles, their names, where they went to school, and everything like this is all on social media,” said Mays.
In this case, surveillance technology aided Mays in finding the stolen property.
In other cases, surveillance technology is used in a multitude of investigations.
CAMSafe program is a website where property owners can register their security cameras. The registrants provide basic contact information and camera location.
However, there is an option to include more information, such as camera direction, footage retention details, or screenshots of the camera’s view.
The OPP uses the program to ascertain camera location in an area where a crime has been committed. Then, using that information, police will request the homeowner footage for their investigation.
“If there is a crime or an immediate need for camera footage in a certain area, we can pull up that area on our record management, see who has a camera there and where it points, who to call. . .
"Then if it's in dire circumstances, we'd be able to go at 2 or 3 in the morning, bang on the door and say, 'hey, we need, we know you have a ring doorbell camera, we need to see it,' We have to ask permission, of course,” said Mays.
