Barrhaven remains auto theft hot spot, and Ring cameras are no deterrent
Ottawa suburb a 'target-rich environment' partly due to location, police say
Nada Alkhayyat woke up one Sunday morning back in August to some suspicious charges on her credit card, but little did she know that was just the start of her worries.
Her daughter had forgotten her purse — and Alkhayyat's Mastercard, which she'd borrowed — in the family Jeep the night before.
When Alkhayyat stepped outside to retrieve it, there was no Jeep to be found.
"I came outside in my pyjamas … and it was like, I'm dreaming," she recalled months later.
"My daughter, maybe she parked it somewhere else. Then yes, we found that it was stolen and [the thieves] did some transactions on my daughter's debit card and as well on my Mastercard."
It's really sad because even people who have security cameras, their cars are still being stolen.- Cherine Abourida, Barrhaven resident
The Jeep had been stolen from the family's driveway in the Half Moon Bay neighbourhood of Barrhaven, a suburb about 15 kilometres southwest of Ottawa's downtown core.
Alkhayyat said the brazen theft left her family shaken.
"Suddenly it's like … it's not safe for me and my kids, so this shouldn't be real," she said.
To make matters worse, Alkhayyat's doorbell camera failed to catch the thieves in the act.
Ottawa police said Barrhaven has become a hot spot for vehicle thefts and security cameras aren't an effective deterrent because the signal jammers thieves use to steal vehicles can also halt recordings.
"So if we look at the video after the fact we see the car, we see a black spot and then we see the tail lights leaving the driveway," said Det. Doug Belanger, an investigator with the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) who specializes in auto theft.
'Target-rich environment'
Belanger said the concentration of thefts in Barrhaven is in part due to its geographic location.
"I think that it's largely due to proximity to the highway and the getaway to Montreal, which is where the vast majority of these vehicles go, and also because it's a target-rich environment," Belanger said.
"They'll come, they'll identify their targets often in advance, and then you'll see three, four, five vehicles go in one night from one neighborhood."
Police said Ottawa's Orléans, Centretown and Glebe neighbourhoods have also been targeted.
In Alkhayyat's case, police managed to track down her Jeep at Montreal's port and return it to her before it could be shipped overseas for resale, but she and her neighbours remain on high alert.
CBC spoke to several homeowners in Barrhaven who are taking action by installing steering wheel locks and tracking devices on their vehicles.
Some, like Wally Adasi, are also installing cameras to alert them to any movement outside their homes.
"Honestly, just keep vigilant," he said.
Thefts driving up insurance
The federal government says an estimated 90,000 cars are stolen annually in Canada.
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, private auto insurers paid out $1.2 billion in theft claims in 2022 — three times more than what was paid just four years earlier.
In Ontario alone, auto theft claims rose 329 per cent over that same time period.
Brian Erwin, an insurance broker at McDougall Insurance in Ottawa and past president of the Auto Insurance Brokers Association, said premiums are going up as a result and the industry is placing restrictions on a number of "high-risk vehicles."
"Some companies are requiring high targets to have the tag system installed in their vehicle, or they add a $500 surcharge to the vehicle," Erwin said.
Insurance rates can vary by provider and depend on location, said Erwin, who explained the final calculation can be determined by how many thefts have occurred in particular area.
"You could go to Company A and they had real bad losses in big bad Barrhaven, but they haven't had bad losses in Orléans, so the premiums will be different," he explained.
Those rate increases can sometimes take a while to kick in, Erwin said.
"Insurance rates are based on history, so if all the thefts are happening this year, it'll translate into premiums next year."
Cherine Abourida, who lives in Barrhaven and drives a 2019 Jeep Cherokee, said she was shocked when her insurance provider wanted to raise her rate by about $50 a month.
"It was crazy and with the cost of everything else increasing, I couldn't afford paying $230 just for car insurance," Abourida said.
After shopping around, Abourida said she was able to find a better rate, but she worries about the future.
"It's really sad because even people who have security cameras, their cars are still being stolen."
Is policing the solution?
Ottawa police have not had a dedicated auto theft unit since 2017, when Deputy Chief Patricia Ferguson said a rise in shootings prompted a reorganization.
Some Barrhaven residents feel a stronger police presence could help ward off thieves, but Belanger said policing is only part of the solution.
He suggested vehicle owners do what they can to protect their property before a theft occurs.
"I don't imagine this is a problem that's going to go away, and I say that because the sheer profitability behind it means that it's worthwhile for these groups to continue to develop technology or strategies that are going to work around the solutions that we have right now," he said.
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