As the novel coronavirus pandemic shutters non-essential services in London, Ont., local business owners and police are taking preventive action to dissuade would-be criminals.
Chief Steve Williams receives a weekly report from the force’s crime analysts but says it’s too early to say if crime is on the rise. “Commercial break and enters are probably more susceptible to seeing an increase because businesses are closed and there’s less people downtown, for example, to keep that eye and to report suspicious activity,” he explains. “We know that that particular crime category was increasing well before the pandemic.