Following an influx of youth crime reported in Portage la Prairie in October, PortageOnline contacted the RCMP to comment on the situation. 

Central Plains RCMP Inspector Paul Peddle says that incidents like this are seen from time to time with youth in the community.

"Youth, like anybody else, are sometimes involved in criminal activity in our community. We encourage the public to report any incidents of crime that they see in the area."

Peddle says that youth crime is treated a little differently, as under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the RCMP cannot release specifics such as names and where they are from.

"The message we want to get out is that we will continue to hold the youth accountable for committing these violent crimes in the community," he continues. "Everybody should have the right to walk around this community with their freedom and safety, and when these incidents are reported to us, we take them very seriously. I can assure you that our RCMP members will be holding people accountable for these crimes." 

The inspector says dealing with youth crime is expected in an RCMP officer's job. 

"In most cases, we are successful in tracking down who's responsible in these cases, especially where there's violence involved. We will be laying the appropriate charges and sending the youth to court to be held to account for those offences."

Peddle adds that he understands the community's concerns regarding a youth crime spree like we saw in October. However, he says seeing such crimes so close together like this is unique.

"It's pretty random, " notes Peddle. 

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