Brampton (Jan 23) – Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown expressed the hope that the National Summit Combatting Auto Theft will result in greater inspections of shipping containers and tougher sentencing for criminals who steal vehicles.
Stating that Brampton has been hit hard by auto theft, Brown says he has raised this critical issue for years.
“For the past couple of years, I have raised this serious issue,” Brown said in a statement to CanIndia News. “I campaigned for re-eleciion in 2022 on hiring a record numberof officers in Peel Region and doubling the number of ofifcers in the Auto Theft Unit.”
“Despite hiring more officers, we continue to see an escalation in auto thefts in Brampton and across Canada,” Brown stated adding that a record-breaking 3,300 vehicles were stolen in his city in 2023 alone.
The national auto theft summit takes place on February 8 in Ottawa. Brown is hoping that “the federal government will commit to greater inspection of shipping containers and tougher sentencing on criminals who steal vehicles” as a result.
According to Mayor Brown currently “a mere 1% of shipping containers are inspected at our borders, leading to auto theft becoming a significant source of income for organized crime”.
“It is time for the Canada Border Services Agency to allocate more staff to the Port of Montreal,” Brown said in his statement.
“It is time for tougher sentencing for these crimes just like we do for gun and drug offences,” the Brampton mayor added. “These crimes are not only local issues but are linked to international criminal activities.”
