ARTICLES

On April 27th, 2023, the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS) was notified of a potential fraud in-progress. The victim had been flagged down by two individuals who indicated that they were in distress and needed money to return to Ontario. The accused(s) sold the victim worthless gold in exchange for an undisclosed amount of money.

As part of the fraud, they advised that they wanted another large amount of money and were following the victim to a bank to obtain the remainder of the cash. The victim contacted police when he realized that he was being scammed. The offence is consistent with fraudulent activities that have been occurring across the country.

As a result of this investigation two males were arrested and charged with fraud. A 35-year-old male and a 45-year-old male are held in custody, awaiting the results of a Judicial Interim Release Hearing. The identity of the two males will not be released as the matters are still before the initial stages of court proceedings.

The MHPS is once again reminding residents to be aware of these fake gold/jewellery scams that can occur periodically in our community as fraudsters travel thru the area. While the scam can take many forms, most often victims are approached by persons who advise the that they are selling high value items, often gold or silver jewelry, that is supposedly valued tens of thousands of dollars and for a substantially reduced amount.

The victims of the fraud later learn that the items are worthless, but only after having lost a substantial amount of money. Sometimes during the conversation, while the victims are distracted, they are also pick-pocketed or targeted by the scam artists for theft from vehicles.

The most practical advice when presented with an opportunity is, that if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

Anyone with information on similar activities are asked to report it by calling the non-emergency line 403-529-8481 or by submitting a tip via the MHPS website (mhps.ca) or mobile app. The MHPS app is free to download and available for both Apple and Android devices.

Media Contact:

S/Sgt Kelsey Fraser
Operational Services Division
Medicine Hat Police Service
Ph: 403-529-8461

On April 19, 2023, at about 10:05 AM, emergency services responded to a single vehicle collision that occurred in the area of Box Springs Road NW and eastbound Trans Canada Highway. A 66-year-old male driver suffered a medical event that caused the vehicle he was driving to leave the road and strike a lamp standard. The male was transported to the hospital with undetermined injuries. Damage is estimated at $25,000.

Media Contact:

Patrol S/Sgt
Medicine Hat Police Service
Ph: 403-529-8461

A Medicine Hat man is in custody charged with several firearms and stolen property related offences after a weapon was found in his possession during an arrest.

On April 18, 2023, members of the Medicine Hat Police Service Criminal Investigation Section located a man who had outstanding warrants for his arrest. While officers were attempting to arrest the man he reportedly reached into a nearby bag where officers later located a loaded sawed off 20-gauge shotgun along with several items of stolen property. Upon a further search, additional ammunition was located on the male.

As a result of this incident, Tyler Poczik, age 36 years, of Medicine Hat, AB was charged with the following:

• Unlawful possession of a restricted firearm,
• Possession of a prohibited / restricted firearm,
• Unsafe storage of a firearm,
• Breach of a firearms / ammunition prohibition order x 2,
• Breach of release order,
• Unlawful possession of identity documents,
• Possession of stolen property under $5000,
• Possession of weapon dangerous to the public peace,
• Fraudulently possess credit card data

Poczik was held for a Judicial Interim Release hearing where it was determined that he will be held in custody until his next court appearance on April 27, 2023.

Media Contact:

S/Sgt. Jason Graham
Criminal Investigation Section
Medicine Hat Police Service
Ph: 403-529-8421

Jason Higdon, who was the subject of a missing person report, has been found and is safe. The Medicine Hat Police thank the public for their attention with this matter.

On January 13, 2024, the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS) will be celebrating 125 years as a police service and to celebrate this milestone several events are being planned.

One initiative suggested by the planning committee to celebrate our rich history as a police service, is the creation of a limited 125^th anniversary edition of the MHPS shoulder flash patch. While the patch would not be worn on active-duty uniforms, it may be worn for special occasions and will shared as a collector’s item during special events throughout the year.

To help with the design of the 125^th anniversary flash, the MHPS is seeking submissions from the community. Attached are photos of our current shoulder flash and previous versions that are on display in the MHPS Lobby. In addition, historic details about the MHPS can be found on the MHPS website as well as at the Esplanade archives.

Anyone interested in submitting a design can do so my email mhps@mhps.ca no later than May 28th, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.

The successful design will be chosen by the MHPS Executive Team and Anniversary Planning Committee, and the designer will receive the first rendition of the flash produced, as well as public acknowledgement and bragging rights of the achievement.

On Saturday, April 1, 2023, at around 1:00 pm members of the Medicine Hat Police Service responded to a report of a suspicious device located in the area of Cactus Street SW. The item was safely removed with support from the MHPS Explosives Disposal Unit. There were no injuries as a result of this incident and the matter is now being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Section. Anybody with any information that can assist in this investigation is asked to contact the MHPS at 403-529-8481.

Media Contact:

S/Sgt Jason Graham
Criminal Investigation Section
Medicine Hat Police Service
Ph: 403-529-8421

Police have laid 20 drug related charges in relation to a five-month ALERT investigation in southeast Alberta.

ALERT Medicine Hat’s organized crime unit identified three properties with ties to drug trafficking.

On March 29, 2023 ALERT, with the assistance of Medicine Hat Police Service, executed search warrants on three homes and seized the following items:

• 411 grams of cocaine;
• 132 grams of psilocybin mushrooms;
• 30 grams of methamphetamine;
• 140 pills of oxycodone;
• 411 grams of illicit cannabis products
• 75 grams of buffing agent; and
• $38,400 cash.

“All three homes were located in residential areas throughout the city and two were in close proximity to elementary schools. I’m proud of the hard work our teams continue to do to remove these drugs from our communities,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Thorburn, ALERT Medicine Hat.

As part of the investigation, police also seized two vehicles as proceeds of crime.

Jeremy Siegers, 47, and Sean Baker, 51, of Medicine Hat are facing various drug related charges, including trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking and proceeds of crime.

Members of the public who suspect drug or gang activity in their community can call local police, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers is always anonymous.

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime.

Media Contact:

S/Sgt Ryan Thorburn
ALERT Medicine Hat
Ph: 403-529-8425

Three people, including one youth, have been charged in relation to a break and enter to an attached garage in the Southwest Hill area of Medicine Hat on the weekend.

On March 23, 2023, at approximately 1:20 AM, members of the Medicine Hat Police Service responded after a homeowner spotted three individuals on their property and immediately called police. Officers responded and deployed a drone, which allowed them to quickly locate three suspects within the area and make the arrests. Property from the garage was recovered and three people have been charged with the following offences:

Jacob Hein, 18-years-old, from Medicine Hat, is charged with break and enter,

Kalan Malmgren, 18- years-old, from Medicine Hat, is charged with failing to comply with probation and break and enter,

A youth, who can not be named, has been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, break and enter and failing to comply with probation.

“The drone proved to be an effective tool during this investigation. It allowed officers to quickly locate the individuals and officers on scene were then able to respond with precision” says Inspector Joe West. “We also want to commend the homeowner for immediately reporting this matter by calling 9-1-1. Doing so, allowed officers to be rapidly deployed to the area and ultimately led to identifying those responsible.”

The MHPS has been utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as drones, since 2020 when they were first introduced as a pilot program. Currently the MHPS has three officers who are certified to operate the UAV’s. The use of UAV’s is heavily regulated by Transport Canada and MHPS policy which limits their use to crime scene/ traffic scene photography, searches for missing or wanted persons and tactical operations during high risk incidents or crimes in progress.

Media Contact:

Inspector Joe West
Operational Services Division
Medicine Hat Police Service
Ph: 403-529-8414

With spring in the air and warmer temperatures people are spending more time outside, and the familiar sounds of noisy mufflers and modified vehicles are unfortunately also increasing as well.

At this time of year, it is common for the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS) to receive an increased number of complaints about noisy vehicles. To proactively address this concern, the MHPS Traffic Unit officers have provided additional training and resources to front-line officers to ensure they can effectively identify and investigate noisy vehicle violations.

Over the coming months, the MHPS will be conducting ongoing and enhanced enforcement, with a focus on modified vehicles, and loud vehicles. “We have heard from our community that modified vehicles which create excessive noise are a concern in many areas of the city,” says Inspector Joe West. “Safety for all road users is important to the MHPS and through this enforcement initiative we will aim to reduce the number vehicles and aggressive driving that cause disruptive noise throughout the community.”

Vehicle owners who modify their exhaust systems, have inadequate baffles, or intentionally cause the vehicles to be unnecessarily loud may be subject to a $162 fine.

To report a concern about a noisy vehicle, community members can submit a Traffic Tip online via the MHPS website here or the MHPS mobile app. The MHPS mobile app is free to download and available for both Apple and android devices. Tipsters should be prepared to provide detailed information to the tip line including vehicle descriptions and license plates when possible.

Media Contact:

Inspector Joe West
Operational Services Division
Medicine Hat Police Service
Ph: 403-529-8471

Mass marketing and phone scams are one of the most common frauds nowadays. Ultimately, the fraudster wants to obtain your personal information or be provided money from you in any method. The difficulty in these types of frauds is that the targets believe they are dealing with a real company or someone trusted. The fraudsters sound very convincing and work hard to manipulate the people they call.

Whether is it by phone or by email, if you are not certain you are talking to someone legitimate, end the conversation and contact the business directly to confirm. Often fraudsters will use phone numbers that are “spoofed”, or copied, to look legitimate or emails that look real but are not. A company will usually use its own name in the email address as a contact as opposed to an email ending in Gmail, Hotmail or yahoo. These are easy things to confirm when you contact the businesses directly yourself.

One type of phone scam is an emergency scam where a scammer will contact a person posing as their relative. The individual will sound scared and quiet and call the person on the other line by their name or title such as “Grandma” or “Grandpa”, and when the person on the other line calls them by the name of their grandchild they will make up a story that they have been arrested for some sort of crime and are being held in jail somewhere and need money. They will often request for the money to be wired to a certain place, often out of the country and say that the money is going to a lawyer, as bail, or for fines and they cannot tell their parents. Remember to always check with your family members and know if they are gone somewhere, or not, before transferring money.

A common scam is where people pose as professionals from the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Border Services Agency, Microsoft or computer technical support, or government officials in hopes to gather personal information or have money sent to them. They may request e-transfers, online gift card codes, crypto currency, or credit card information. Remember, no legitimate company or government agency will request online gift cards codes or crypto currency as payment.

Always call the company/agency back at their phone number that you have researched and confirm if the situation is real.

In general, a good rule to remember when it comes to money is to always ask questions before transferring or investing. A professional will have no problem answering your questions and showing credentials and references to prove they are who they are.

For more information on common frauds or scams and for information on how to protect yourself visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.

Media Contact:Sgt. Adam Gregory
Medicine Hat Police Service
Community Support Unit
403-529-8451