Frustration simmers at crime prevention forum

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This article was published 25/11/2022 (1101 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mark Hill says he has spent thousands of dollars and countless sleepless nights defending his Glenelm neighbourhood home from property crime.

After six break-ins over 12 years, he has had enough.

“No matter what I do, I’m a loser. I don’t get my stuff back and nobody gets arrested,” Hill said, addressing police Thursday night at a crime prevention forum at the St. Norbert Community Centre. “You’re asking us to help you, but you can’t help us. You can’t protect us.”

A total of 12 residents and politicians attended the event, which was hosted by Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River), alongside members of the Winnipeg Police Service.

Officers speaking at the forum provided property protection tips, asking homeowners to secure belongings, install motion lights and doorbell cameras, form neighbourhood watch groups and look out for one another.

Hill estimates he’s invested more than $22,000 installing reinforced doors and windows, chain-link fencing and security cameras, and acquiring two large dogs.

Many nights, he patrols the north-central neighbourhood, scouring alleyways and streets for suspicious people. Despite the efforts, thieves broke into his garage last month and made off with $3,300 worth of power tools, he said.

“Your first response is just absolute anger, like you’ve been violated,” Hill said. “It kind of makes you go crazy.”

It’s a feeling his neighbours in Glenelm know well. The Elmwood and East Kildonan area has logged some of the highest rates of property crime this year, second only to downtown, on the Winnipeg police department’s crime map.

According to police data, the area recorded 3,094 property crimes between January and August — a 33 per cent increase over the same period last year.

Police could not provide an update on property crime clearance rates Friday, but officers at the forum estimated it may be up around 10 per cent.

“We are prisoners in our own homes… Whenever people leave Glenelm, they are afraid to come home and find their house broken into,” Hill said. “I’m not anti-police, but I’m not happy.”

Not all who attended the forum were as critical, with others voicing support despite their frustrations.

Chambers said he organized the forum to help manage expectations of the police force.

“When there is a property crime… as much as we want police to come and dust for evidence, there are instances where that’s not going to happen,” he said.

Officers at the event painted a dire picture of Winnipeg’s crime rate.

The service receives more than 652,000 calls for service annually, with roughly one-third requiring immediate police dispatch, they said.. Violent crimes, such as assaults and homicides (Winnipeg has logged a record-breaking 46 this year of the latter), require multiple units, further draining resources.

“We need to align a service response to a service need, and police are not necessarily the best responders to a lot of what we’re seeing out there,” Chambers said. “Poverty, homelessness, mental health and addictions are contributing to (crime rates)… The impacts are immediate to city resources, because its police, fire and paramedics that get dispatched.”

The provincial government is responsible for addressing social issues and without support, nothing will change, Chambers added.

Royce Koop, a political studies professor at the University of Manitoba, agreed, although he suggests support should come from higher up.

The city’s ability to generate money is limited to property taxes and service fees, leaving them at the mercy of the provincial government. Unfortunately, the same is true for the province, which relies largely on funding from Ottawa.

“The federal government has too much money and provincial and municipal governments do not have enough,” Koop said. “Having a provincial government that could skillfully advocate for us could help… but it often seems Manitoba is not high on the priority list.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca