Police have recovered one of two laptops stolen within a few days of the 2014 civic election from the North Saanich municipal hall.
The District hall was broken into between the night of the municipal election on Saturday, Nov. 15 and Nov. 17, 2014. The building was locked, reported the municipality at the time, and the laptops were password protected. Victoria Police found one of them last month in a different investigation.
On March 5, officers with the Victoria Police responded to a break-in on Shelbourne Street. A witness described a suspect vehicle and when police tracked it down on Rock Bay Avenue, they searched it and found a laptop. Constable Mike Russell, Victoria Police media spokesperson, says the laptop was identified by its serial number as one of the stolen North Saanich items.
Mayor Alice Finall told the News Review at the time that access to municipal hall itself is via password entry.
After the theft, North Saanich staff said the computers did not contain property, tax or personnel files.
North Saanich Chief Administrative Officer Rob Buchan said this week he was informed the police recovered a laptop but knows nothing more about the investigation.
The incident sparked the involvement of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner to work with the District to determine if there had been any privacy breach.
The District confirmed at the time that there had been no unauthorized access to municipal files or its computer system as a result of the theft.