Vauxhall theft resolved with restorative justice

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Vauxhall Advance

By Nikki Jamieson
Vauxhall Advance
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Property and persons crime are still up from last years according to the local RCMP.

During October, the Taber Vauxhall RCMP received seven calls for service within the Town of Vauxhall. One call was for a criminal code violation. The department also received five 9-1-1 hangups and patrolled the town 23 times.

Coun. Paul Ballard asked what time of day the department tended to patrol the town. Taber Vauxhall RCMP sgt. Stewart Gemmill said that patrols were usually done when a member was working in the area as targeted enforcement.

“It can be anytime, but we try to target places in our detachment area that are seeing issues during certain times,” said Gemmill. He also noted that they were a little short staff at the moment, which had resulted in fewer violation tickets being issued.

Gemmill also noted that they had a large area to patrol, as in addition to the Municipal District of Taber, they were also responsible for part of Vulcan County, Warner Count and the County of 40 Mile. When asked how far the Alberta Sheriffs can come off the highway, he said that “my understanding is that sheriffs can police, do the traffic enforcement anywhere.”

According to the detachment’s crime gauge, between January and October 2025, persons crimes are up 79 per cent compared to the same time last year, while property crimes area up 16 per cent. This includes a 15 per cent decrease, or three fewer instances, of break and enters, an additional motor vehicle theft, and a 40 per cent increase, or eight more cases, of thefts under $5,000. However, there has been no change in the statistics for other criminal code cases.

The department laid charges in five criminal investigations in October. They responded to three break and enters, one for a solar farm, one to a remote oil lease site, and one to an outbuilding on a farm, for which charges were laid.

There were two reports of mischief in response to people gathering at Chamberlain School in Grassy Lake after hours and leaving a mess. The culprits were identified, but as the school did not wish to press charges, a warning was given.

There were three reports of theft, with one still under investigation while the other was a theft from a Vauxhall store that was cleared using restorative justice.

“Restorative justice just involves the two parties coming to agreement on how to satisfactorily deal with the crime outside of the justice system,” said Gemmill. “In that case, it was paying for the goods that were stolen.”