Stolen items to be returned shortly

Cochrane RCMP is in the process of identifying multiple stolen items and returning them to their owners after police seized a significant amount of stolen property.

The seizure occurred after police executed a search warrant on a residence in Bragg Creek.

If the owners cannot be identified, the RCMP will seek public assistance with the identification process.

“It can take some time and digging to reunite people with their belongings,” said Cst. Kary Moore with the Cochrane RCMP. “We're asking that the public please be patient while we inventory the items recovered.”

The investigation is still ongoing and charges are pending.

Collision amidst a high-speed car chase

On Sunday morning, Nov. 26, Cochrane RCMP were advised of a stolen vehicle in town, which lead to a high-speed chase ending in Morley.

The RCMP said when they attempted to stop the vehicle, the vehicle sped away hitting a police car and sideswiping a civilian vehicle.

The RCMP located the stolen vehicle in Morley. The driver was arrested a short time after with the assistance of the RCMP police service dog.

There were no injuries to the civilians or the police officer involved in the collisions.

The investigation is still ongoing and charges are pending against the driver of the vehicle. The name of the driver cannot be released at this time.

Most dangerous places in Canada

Cochrane landed on a list of the nation's 229 most dangerous cities published by Maclean's Magazine last week.

The town is ranked 139 based on Crime Severity Index (CSI) – pulled from Statistics Canada – which is a count of all criminal incidents reported to and by police divided by the population of interest. By this method, all crimes reported are given the same weight, regardless of the type or seriousness.

“Smaller communities tend to be more susceptible to inflated crime rates, with one or two incidents getting magnified when they are recast for a population of 100,000,” the article explained.

The CSI is over all down in Cochrane but the violent crime severity index went up 31 per cent.

Incidents of robbery, fraud, impaired driving and cocaine trafficking are on the rise in Cochrane while incidents of sexual assault, breaking and entering and Cannabis production and trafficking went down.

The Cochrane RCMP said they could not comment to statistics.

The magazine reported that crimes in Canada have fallen by 25 per cent in the last decade but the severity of crimes has risen since 2013.

Calgary place 93rd on the Maclean's list.