Garage attack, rise in crime has Niverville residents looking for safety solutions

Residents came together in Niverville, Man., on Wednesday night after adisturbing incident this week sent a man to hospital.

"I have been a resident of Niverville for four years and there has definitely has been an increase in crime," said Sarah Klassen, a residentin the townof3,500 people,located30 kilometres south of Winnipeg."The escalation recently has caused enormous concern within my family and within the community."

A 43-year-old man was attacked in his garage Tuesday morning after hearing some noise and going to check on what was happening. According toRCMP, there were three intruders in the garage, all of whom had their faces covered.

One of them used a machete in the attack, which left the man with non-life-threatening injuries.

"I was quite shocked frightened, angry, a little bit of all that,"saidBarryPiasta, a community activist.

"Nivervilleis a tiny community and we consider everybody family out here."

• Niverville man attacked by machete-wielding intruders in garage

RCMPwere called to the home, in the town's southwest neighbourhood, just after 1:30 a.m. The attackers were gone and there is no information available on their description, other than the fact they were all males.

Piastaorganized a community meeting for Wednesday night at theNivervillearena. The mayor, members of the town council and a member of the RCMP were in attendance to take questions and concerns from residents.

"It's basically to get everybody to come together as a community and start watching for each other and get ideas about what we can each do to make our community a safer place," Piastasaid.

Piasta, who has lived in the town for five years, said crime has spiked in the short time he's been there and break-ins have become a weekly occurrence.

Last night, while he wasmaking plans for the meeting, a posting popped up on the Niverville Facebook page saying a vehicle with a riding mower on the back had just been stolen. And just beforeChristmas, a home was broken into and a purse was stolen off the kitchen counter, Piasta said, notingthe incident happened while the homeowner was in the house.

'Genuine concerns'

Christopher Mitchell attended the crowded meeting where people talked about keeping porch lights on and helping neighbours.

"The recent occurrence of a man being attacked with a machete is obviously a concern to myself and my family. Home safety is paramount," Mitchell said. "With it being a small Niverville community, it's shocking that it actually happened here."

Mitchell is looking into home security options but he said he would like to see an increased police presence in the small community.

"I would like to find out what could be done to improve the situation, whether we could increase the policing of the town of Niverville and what the implications in terms of costs," he said.

"I believe that they can readdress their budgets to increase police presence within this town."

Piastasaid he thinks the town is an easy targetpartly because there is no locally stationed police force. The town is served by the RCMPdetachment in eitherSt-Pierre-Jolys, about 20 kilometres away,or in Steinbach, nearly 30 kilometres away.

"The closest police car is, on a good day, say 15 to 20 minutes away. And with bad weather it would be longer," he said.

Plus, Niverville is close toWinnipeg, so criminals can do a quick drive for a smash-and-grab, he said.

Some residents have been installingalarm systems and video surveillance but Piastawould like to find asupplier who could provide a bulk purchase deal so more people in the town can get equipped as well.

But he also wants to look at measures that could mean bigger changes in the community, such as street layout and lighting or even hiring a private police service.

However, Klassensaid there needs to be more action than just focusing on police.

"I honestly believe that individuals, the communityand external agencies need to work together.It can't just be one. We all have to pitch in and do our bit."