Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At noon yesterday a citizen stopped to offer assistance to a female in the downtown area who was experiencing difficulty with her bicycle, and offered to transport the female and her disabled bicycle to her residence. As the citizen was loading the bicycle into the trunk the female jumped into the driver’s seat, locked the doors, and stole the vehicle. At 3 PM, the stolen vehicle was involved in a hit and run accident in the 1200 block of Lorne Avenue East, when an unknown male struck a townhouse building at that location. The male then left the scene. At around 6 PM last night, police checked on a highly intoxicated male in the downtown area. He had in his possession two bottles of liquor stolen from a Brandon retailer about two hours earlier, and he matched the description of the male committing that theft as observed in surveillance video. Police arrested the male for the theft of the liquor, and a search subsequent to arrest resulted in police finding two credit cards in the name of the vehicle theft victim. The credit cards came from the victim’s wallet, left inside the vehicle while the bicycle was loaded into the trunk. A 40 year old male from Brandon was lodged at the Brandon Correctional Centre, and will be remanded today facing charges of theft under $5,000, and possession of stolen property. The stolen vehicle was located at 6:50 a.m. today, abandoned in a downtown parking lot. The investigation into who is responsible for the original theft and subsequent possession of the stolen vehicle continues.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At approximately 11:45 pm, police received a report of a robbery at a business in the 3500 block of Victoria Ave. Two males entered the business and stole two cases of beer, and then fled. Two employees of the business attempted to chase the males down, but were sprayed with bear mace once the suspects were caught. They were able to hold one of the male suspects until a third staff arrived to assist. The second male suspect managed to flee. Once police arrived and were able to arrest and search the male in custody, he was also found to be in possession of a machete and a slingshot. The 16-year-old male youth was lodged at Brandon Correctional Centre. He will appear this morning on charges of Robbery with Violence, Assault with a Weapon X 2, Possess Weapon Dangerous, and Possess Prohibited Weapon. The investigation into the identity of the second male continues.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release Shortly after 1:00 am, police responded to an assault which occurred in the 3100 block of Victoria Ave, in which the suspect head-butted another individual. The suspect was located near 34th and Victoria where he was arrested. The individual who was assaulted did not require any medical attention. The 33-year-old male was released to appear in court on August 23, 2019.

The Matt Calvert Charity Shootout presented a cheque to the BRHC Foundation which will be directed towards CancerCare Westman for $56,390.48.  The money was raised at the third annual golf tournament held on June 27, 2019 at the Wheat City Golf Course.  CancerCare Westman is located right here in Brandon and all proceeds will be utilized to purchase equipment as well as patient resources. Details regarding the fourth annual Matt Calvert Charity Shootout will be announced in the coming months, stay tuned!

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release The Women’s Resource Centre and The John Howard Society of Brandon are pleased to play a pivotal role in the delivery of Third Party Reporting services in Brandon. Both agencies are proud to pave the way for survivors of sexual assault to have another reporting option available to them. Third Party Reporting is a process in which survivors of sexual assault complete a report with a trained individual at an advocate agency. Here in Brandon this will be The Women’s Resource Centre or John Howard Society Brandon. They will deliver the third-party report to Brandon Police Service without any identifying information of the survivor. The survivor will not have to speak with police. The traditional method of reporting a sexual assault can be intimidating and produces barriers to reporting. Third party reporting will reduce the number of assaults that go unreported. Survivors will have a voice within a system that they may not have otherwise accessed due to stigma, fear, and further trauma. Through these agencies, survivors will have access to individual counselling, a pivotal ingredient to begin their therapeutic process. Brandon Police Service has been anticipating the development of Third Party Reporting. In the past, the only sexual assault survivors who were eligible for Victim’s Compensation were those who made a formal report to police. Now this compensation will be available to survivors even if they choose not to speak to police directly. The information provided by survivors to the Third Party Reporting Agencies, may also assist police in identifying offenders or trends that have gone unreported in the past as the data will be collected and tracked. Joint efforts between The Women’s Resource Centre, The John Howard Society of Brandon, and Brandon Police Service, is the multi-faceted approach our community needs to address the barriers individuals face when initiating a sexual assault report. The Women’s Resource Centre provides programs, services, and counselling on issues affecting women and children, including family violence while encouraging respect, diversity and equality with a feminist perspective. The John Howard Society of Brandon’s (JSHB) mandate is to deal with crime through the lens of restorative justice. This includes involving the victims of crime to have a voice in the process, holding the offender accountable for their actions, and allowing for rehabilitation and healing for all parties involved.  In addition to this, JHSB also offers programming including anger management and healthy relationship programming for men women and youth.  JHSB provides this service throughout Westman and the Parkland regions victims of all genders.