Network fighting auto theft expands in Atlantic Canada

The Provincial Auto Theft Network (PATNET) program, which works to fight auto theft in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, has expanded to Prince Edward Island, the Insurance Bureau of Canada announced Tuesday.

The program’s launch in Summerside, PEI will include a training session for law enforcement focusing on vehicle identification and investigation.

“We are delighted to see the award-winning PATNET program expand into PEI,” Amanda Dean, vice president for the Atlantic region with IBC commented in the announcement.

“PATNET has helped successfully bring together the law enforcement community to reduce auto theft and fraud in the Atlantic region,” she noted. “We look forward to seeing this program expand nationally and hope it will serve as a model for other jurisdictions.”

In 2012, more than 78,000 vehicles were stolen across Canada, according to IBC.

“PATNET is generating more interest among law enforcement agencies than we ever anticipated when we developed the concept in New Brunswick three years ago,” noted Guy Ouellette, auto theft investigator in the Atlantic region with IBC. “It was supposed to be a local remedy for local issues. Now it is becoming a model.”

Among its successes, the program has contributed to investigations in Ontario and Quebec resulting in the recovery of commercial cargo loads that had been stolen in New Brunswick, IBC noted.

PATNET expanded into Nova Scotia in September, providing initial training seminars to 40 law enforcement officers from across the province. The program received the New Brunswick Crime Prevention Association’s Business Excellence Award earlier this month.