Q and A: Waterloo regional police discuss startling rate of robberies to start 2022

According to police, the Region of Waterloo is facing a severe spike in robberies during the first leg of 2022.

Regional police said they responded to 25 reported robberies at local businesses since the start January, compared to the 15 robberies reported in January of last year.

CTV Kitchener spoke with Waterloo Regional Police Supt. Eugene Fenton to discuss the investigations, the victims involved and the unique challenges that come with trying to stay ahead of fast-moving crime.

CTV Kitchener: The numbers are out there and they are available. In your experience, is this wave that we're seeing unusual compared to past years?

Fenton: We certainly have seen an increase this year over last year, if you look at the first month of the year. Last year in January we had 15 robberies in total and this year we had 25. But, if you look at it a little closer, we have to wait a little longer to see a larger data set to see if that average is actually higher. For example, we've had about 20 robberies in the first half of [January 2022], but in the second half of [January 2022] we've had five. So, the numbers have leveled out a little bit."

CTV Kitchener: A lot of these incidents do involve violent and armed suspects. How do you approach investigations like this where there's obviously quite a bit of trauma for the people who are victimized here, but you're also dealing with fast-moving criminals?

Fenton: That's a good question. I'm really proud of the work that our robbery team does. They have a really integrated, collaborative approach. Immediately at the outside of a robbery they engage our Victim Services unit and offers of support are made to the victims.

At the same time, because we have a dedicated robbery unit, we're able to dedicate several investigators at the outside of a crime to do all the front-end loading work, ensure all of the potential leads are uncovered and collaborate with our policing partners, if indeed we find it to be multi-jurisdictional.

Often times we see positive results, as evidence recently with arrests in two robberies involving stabbings as well as a home invasion robbery involving a firearm.

CTV Kitchener: There is a perception that a lot of crime, whether it's gun crime or violent crime, is coming from outside of the region and into the region. Is that the case with these robberies?

Fenton: It's certainly a truth that crime and criminals don't adhere to municipal boundaries. We certainly have seen in the last year criminals from elsewhere in the province and beyond come to our region and commit crimes, just as we've seen criminals from within our region go elsewhere and commit crimes.

We live in a large community now and we're situated right on one of the busiest highways in North America. So we have to keep in mind that gives criminals easy access and easy escape after committing crimes and plenty of opportunity unfortunately.

CTV Kitchener: In a recent wave of pharmacy robberies, it was mentioned that prescription drugs were the target. Is that a unique type of investigation, versus a gas station where cash might be the target?

Fenton: It's certainly unique in the sense that they were looking for prescription narcotics. We believe that those narcotics would have been targeted so that they can be resold on the black market. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t change how the robbery team investigates the crime. We put a lot of resources into the investigation and supporting the victims as we try to determine who is responsible.

CTV Kitchener: Breaking and entering as well as weapons charges and possible substances can be involved in these investigations. Are police often dealing with multiple offence criminals in many of these cases?

Fenton: It certainly can happen where we have one criminal who commits multiple types of crimes. I guess we have to keep in mind that if an individual is capable of committing a theft with violence, such as a robbery, then they're certainly capable of committing other types of theft, be it a break and enter or a theft of vehicle, in order to gain that financial gain that they were looking for in the first place.

CTV Kitchener: These are often the types of crimes where people think "I could have been there. I could have been in that store, or in that shopping mall, or could have been working behind the counter." Are there any messages to offer the public about personal safety?

Fenton: I have a personal experience there. I was inside Conestoga Mall [on Jan. 11], the night that the jewelry store was robbed there earlier in the year, and I walked by that store just 30 minutes before the robbery came in. So I certainly have those same thoughts.

We would just encourage people, citizens or employees to be aware of their surroundings. If they see a crime occurring or suspicious activity, to get to a safe spot and call police.

Most importantly, we just never want anybody to confront a robbery in progress or resist it in any way, just comply. At the end of the day, no property is worth getting injured. Unfortunately we have seen some serious injuries when people resist robberies and we want to avoid that whenever possible.

In the moment, your instinct is to resist and protect your property. But at the end of the day, we have to be more concerned with our own personal safety. So I would just encourage people to try and think about that and at all costs just avoid being injured if you can.

CTV Kitchener: Has any progress been made with the active robbery investigations currently underway?

Fenton: Like I said, we do a have a dedicated robbery team we've had since the start of January of 2021 and they work tenaciously on all these robberies, and they've had some success as I mentioned earlier, actively working on the pharmacy robbery trend to try and determine who might be responsible.

The jewelry store robbery [on Jan. 11 at Conestoga Mall], we did make two arrests and we still have one outstanding suspect. There have been some arrests and some closures, but rest assured they are working very hard, day in and day out, to try and advance those investigations and bring them to a conclusion.

Some answers have been edited for clarity