York Regional Police stops break and enters at the door
Our officers worked to prevent break and enters through enforcement and education, including distributing strike plates to make homes safer
Residential break and enters had become serious concern for locals in the south end of York Region when officers in #2, #4 and #5 District and the Crime Prevention Unit kicked off Operation StrikePlate, aimed at deterring criminals and helping residents protect their property.
The operation launched in March 2024 and lasted eight weeks, resulting in 24 arrests and 56 charges laid. An additional 47 bail compliance checks were conducted on individuals who had been convicted of or were charged with break-and-enter offences.
According to Detective Sergeant David Ecklund of the #5 District Criminal Investigations Bureau Property Crime team, the bail checks made a significant impact on the success of the operation.
“We didn’t just conduct checks in York Region,” he said. “If an individual had been charged within York Region and they lived in the Greater Toronto Area, we would drive out to their address and ensure they were abiding by their conditions. We made several arrests based off these visits.”
The initiative also tackled crime prevention, as officers distributed postcards with safety messaging to citizens in residential areas, malls and grocery stores. The goal was to educate the public on recent crime trends and empower residents with the tools to protect their homes, such as the Community Safety Data Portal – an online platform featuring crime maps and other crime prevention resources – and the Security Camera Registry – a program where residents share security camera footage with police to help solve crimes.
Additionally, more than 3,000 door stoppers, or strike plates, were distributed, to be secured to the doors of homes for added protection against forced entries. These were distributed at town hall meetings hosted by the Crime Prevention Unit and given to residents in areas that saw an increase in break and enters.
“If somebody comes and tries to kick in your door and you have a strike plate up, it helps protect your home,” Ecklund said. “Our hopes were that if we provided strike plates to homeowners, maybe they would use it on their front door and go buy another for their side door. We wanted to provide a simple solution to help people protect their homes.”
Over the course of the eight-week enforcement period, in comparison from 2023 to 2024, there was a 20 per cent reduction in break and enters in the south end of York Region.
