Trend of youth-related crimes in Barrhaven revealed in theft investigation
Posted Sep 11, 2026 12:18:39 PM.
Officials targeted a portion of central Barrhaven earlier this week for retail theft and said they identified a worrying trend of youth involved in crime.
According to Ottawa police, on Sept. 4 they were in the area of Chapman Mills where strip malls of grocery stores, athletic centres, restaurants and stores are found.
The goal of the project was to target retail thefts; partnering with community officers, retail management, loss prevention teams and OC Transpo Special Constables.
Through the operation, police said they identified 13 people who were youth and said this is “reflecting a trend of youth-related offences identified in the area.”
Seven people were arrested, seven face detentions and six Youth Criminal Justice Act warnings were issued.
Several other offences were laid including:
- Four Criminal Code charges, including one theft under $5,000 and three breach of probation charges
- Twenty Provincial Offence Notices, including trespass and traffic offences
- Twelve traffic warnings
- One cannabis seizure and one suspected controlled substance seizure
Police also said that a repeat offender was found by a loss prevention employee and arrested, and they are facing four Criminal Code charges.
“ The results demonstrate the value of strong community partnerships, real-time information sharing and coordinated enforcement in addressing retail theft and other public safety concerns,” officials said.
Statistics across Canada show a decrease
Following two years of increases in youth-related crime reported by police, 2024 saw a downturn, according to the latest Statistics Canada report on the subject.
From 2023 to 2024 youth crime went down 4 per cent, the first decrease after 2021-2023 saw increases of 19 and 13 per cent.
In this case, youth is described as anyone between the ages of 12 and 17.
“Prior to the increases in 2022 and 2023, the youth crime rate had been generally trending downwards for almost two decades,” the snapshot from across the country notes.
Specifically, in Ontario, youth crime saw a decrease of 4 per cent overall
