Niverville Town Council has been hearing concerns from residents who have been noticing a rise in vandalism and petty theft.

Mayor Myron Dyck says vandalism is an ongoing issue that the town itself has been dealing with. He notes there was recently some significant spray painting of the bathrooms at Hespeler Park. He says council meets with the RCMP quarterly to get a report for the town.

“The numbers, based on what the RCMP are saying for our population, are within the range of normal, but we understand that we do not want to see one victim. We don't want to find that there is an acceptable amount that oh there was five victims and we're good, of course not.”

Niverville Resident Sherry Unrau says her family's house was broken into last Tuesday early in the morning while everyone was sleeping. She notes the door was left wide open and a few items were taken. She adds her house is now always locked down and her children are quite shaken, but the experience has encouraged her trust in the RCMP.

“I was extremely impressed by the RCMP. He was here within 5-10 minutes of it happening, I didn't even think they would come because it was such a small amount that was taken but he was here right away and put our fears at ease.”

Dyck says when town council met with the RCMP recently the requested, on behalf of the residents, that Niverville receive greater police presence. He notes they are also encouraging residents to volunteer with the Citizens on Patrol Program.

“One other thing that we can do is our Citizens on Patrol Program. I would like to put a call out there for volunteers once again, we have a volunteer coordinator, we used to have three and four dozen individuals who volunteered to go out into the community, I know the hours aren't great 11 p.m. To 3 a.m. But we do provide a vehicle for them.”

Dyck says in addition Niverville town council is considering putting up more cameras on public properties like the Niverville Arena.