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Concerns about growing Waterdown crime

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It used to be a small sleepy village, but in the last 15 years Waterdown has doubled in size and is still growing rapidly. And with expansion comes a corresponding increase in crime.
In the last 12 months complaints of vandalism, theft, break-ins, and car entries have sky-rocketed according to residents and Ward 15 councillor Judi Partridge and they want more help from Hamilton police.
Residents in Waterdown say the problem isn’t just expanding in scope, it’s expanding in intensity too. They’ve had several serious incidents of smashed windows in homes and cars and a number of break-ins too, and they want some help.
Partridge says, given the number of complaints about crime, she tends to agree. “You need to call the police and report it. They don’t know what they don’t hear about.”
And who responds to those calls? 3 officers, per shift, that work out of a small office, tucked away on the second floor, at the back of a building, near Clappison’s Corners.
Jennifer Morgan who runs a Waterdown Facebook group says that lack of visibility contributes to the sense that there is no police presence in Waterdown and contributes to the under-reporting of crime. But the biggest problem she says, might be the vast territory this handful of officers has to cover:
“From about Glanbrook, to about the 401, then all the way across to where we hit Halton region, and then all the way across to Cambridge.” 80 kilometers, at it’s widest point.
With 30 000 people in Waterdown, and growing rapidly, everyone agrees the problem will probably get worse, unless something is done.
Police met with councillor Partridge this morning at city hall to discuss the issue and the next step may be a public meeting with Partridge, police, and Waterdown residents.