Property crimes frustrate Hillcrest resident

A woman who has had both her home and her vehicle broken into in the last 14 months wants to see something done about it.

A woman who has had both her home and her vehicle broken into in the last 14 months wants to see something done about it.

Diana Rothgeb, a longtime Whitehorse resident who lives in Hillcrest, told the Star this week her home was first broken on the Victoria Day weekend in May 2007.

“There were broken windows, lots of stuff stolen,“ she said. Although RCMP officers located those responsible, she said, charges were never laid.

“They just said thank you for reporting the crime,“ she said. Officers did not investigate the incident nor send more officers to patrol the area, she added.

The process took so long that she wasn’t able to claim the damages on her insurance policy, said Rothgeb.

“The constable in charge never returned my calls or anything,“ she said.

Just months later, Rothgeb’s car was vandalized.

The last straw came last Sunday, when Rothgeb heard someone attempting to break into her home in the middle of the night.

“I jumped out of bed and tried to find a baseball bat, that kind of thing,“ she said. “By the time I got to the door,  there was no one around.“

But the next morning, she discovered that her vehicle had been broken into. Money was missing, she said, and the car was a mess.

“Now I said, ‘I want to report this.‘“

When Rothgeb called the RCMP detachment, she said the officer she spoke with “kind of laughed” and said, “Welcome to Monday morning. Welcome to summer.“

“I’m starting to get a little fed up with it. There’s obviously a problem in Whitehorse,“ said Rothgeb. “It’s just something I’m tired of seeing.“

Years ago, she said, Whitehorse residents could feel safe leaving their doors unlocked.

But now, she said, “it’s almost to the point where you have to have double locks and electric fences.

“Let’s do something about it. It’s time. This shouldn’t happen to people. You shouldn’t have to feel violated. It’s just getting worse and worse. I think it has to be dealt with.“

Rothgeb said she never sees police cruisers in her area, patrolling for suspicious activity.

“There’s more to Whitehorse than just the downtown core,“ she noted.

“We don’t see them unless there’s a problem. It’s not just the police. It’s the justice system too. What’s next? Do we have to take justice into our own hands?

“I know it sounds petty, but it’s just a huge circle and no one seems to care or want to do something about it.

“It starts with parents. You’re not even allowed to discipline your children anymore. It’s just getting progressively worse. We’re not Vancouver, but our crime is huge for such a small place.“

RCMP spokesman Glenn Ramsay told the Star police investigate crimes to the fullest extent possible and that disputes are best resolved with the police themselves.

He added that vehicle thefts, sometimes known as “car shopping,“ often occur when the owner has left the vehicle unlocked or left valuables, such as cash, inside.

“It’s a crime of opportunity,“ he said.

Ramsay added that although the police do conduct patrols, research has suggested that such patrols have a minimal impact on crime. Patrols have a more substantial effect on public perceptions of crime, he noted.

Lesley Carberry, a fellow Hillcrest resident and director of crime prevention and policing with the Department of Justice, said she is not aware of any spikes in crime in her neighbourhood.

“Hillcrest has a very active neighbourhood association,“ she said Thursday.

Notices are usually distributed if any suspicious activity is noted, but Carberry said she hasn’t received any recent notices.