WINNIPEG — Hundreds of River Heights residents packed Corydon Community Centre Wednesday night hoping for answers after months of experiencing numerous break ins. They say they’ve had enough of a long running crime spree.
Winnipeg police held a community forum to address the ongoing issue in the area. Officers are seeing an increase in property-related crimes, especially River Heights, as more incidents are being reported.
Residents like Jan Lowe are victims of theft and have witnessed groups of people damaging property and stealing nearby.
“They were trying to break in to the clubhouse and they were using big rocks and big boards to try and break in,” said Lowe about a group of teenagers she saw vandalizing in the area. “I called the non emergency line three times and no one was able to come out and I felt quite helpless.”
READ MORE: Winnipeg police arrest teens in River Heights break ins
Police said the crimes are being committed by people from outside the community in the early hours of the morning and during the week more often than the weekends. Through interviews they found most of the thieves come from impoverished backgrounds in the city.
Police believe the area is victimized more than others because some think River Heights is a “target rich environment.”
They advised residents to continue locking all of their windows and doors and stressed they bring their belongings inside instead of leaving them in vehicles. Constantly securing homes and garages was another suggestion.
But residents are becoming more frustrated as they pay hundreds of dollars in deductible costs each time a crime occurs.
“You can spend a lot of money on surveillance systems but really when it comes to the window being smashed, that’s your deductible so 200 bucks,” said Andrew McCrea who lives in the area. His car was broken into twice this year and still experiences problems.
“You only figure it out when you go out to the car in the morning… then you have to add in the cleaning up the glass and drying up the seat,” said McCrea.
McCrea is one of many residents involved with a Facebook group called “River Heights Smashed Windows Club” that aims to spread awareness to neighbours about the incidents.
In May 2014, Winnipeg police launched Project Comet to create awareness about the crimes with routine community check ins and by distributing safety information.
The project will continue and police want to work together better with the community to identify trends after residents report what they see to officers and in groups online.
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