Following the Smash and Grab on Friday night I popped round the local used sporting goods store on Saturday morning, left him a description of my skates, they were pretty distinctive, vintage, quilted leather uppers, solid steel shanks, blue laces...not another pair like them in the city. And I was rather attached to them. I told him they were stolen, the window to my car was smashed and they were taken, he didn't seem hopeful but promised to keep his eyes peeled...
That evening, at work, a message on my phone. My skates had come into the shop...
I'm elated, really, a lead of sorts, and now I call the police on Sunday to report the crime, give my statement, funny, on their website they give options to report theft of property from vehicle, and damage to vehicle, but no combination of the 2. They promise to send round an officer to take my statement, depending on how busy, emergencies, and such, probably later that night...and having described everything, smash and grab, April 1, between 8:30 and 9:30 when I left the restaurant (and I know it was in the twilight hours because the interior light was on...), I offer to drive over to a local station, the operator discourages me, probably the clerks at the desk won't know or be able to take a statement, in closing the operator insists upon asking me if I'm in immediate danger, if I feel threatened, and this inability to use common sense to deviate however slightly from the script, the whole call, well, it's disheartening, and I'm not too hopeful...
And from my balcony the city quietly sprawls beneath me. Not a whisper, not a sound, nothing...
An inventory of what was grabbed from the car: My Skates, a couple of packs of gum, glowsticks for camping, a candy bar, ... wait ... and looking for my bag I realize something else, must have been under the skates, I wouldn't knowingly leave it in the car, know better, bad leather bag with Samsung Galaxy Tablet, Garmen GPS, Nikon Digital Camera, some notebooks, postage stamps, Memory cards, batteries, pens, reading glasses, a small chessboard, unchecked lottery tickets, ... the damage just went up another $700.00, just stuff, shit that can't be pawned (pawnshops have rules), a tablet that can't be unlocked or used, and what homeless person needs a GPS? Really, WTF, and I'm angry all over again...
By Monday I've grown tired of waiting around the apartment for the police to come and grab my statement, pop out for a coffee, they must be busy, but everywhere I see cops riding about the beltline, in formation upon bicycles, checking their fit-bits, on roller-blades, swooping low in helicopters, cops in hummers and SUV's talking to pretty girls, in the park, getting their heads shaved for cancer, handing out tickets for speeding and traffic, doing everything, in short, but policing...
...and I can't help thinking how seldom I've seen the police up by the restaurant, despite it being a grim neighborhood, you never see them biking about there, there's not the pretty girls, that hill is a killer to try and ride up, and rumour has it it might be a bit dangerous, a lot of homeless people, addicts and beggars, and so they all keep to the more fashionable, upscale neighborhoods...
***
I show up at the sporting goods store, before work, sure enough they're my skates. No mistaking. And he's apologetic, I thank him, how did he get them back? Well, he just told the guy bringing them in that they matched the description of a pair reported stolen and the guy walked out...Did he get a name, phone number, ID? No, no, no. A description? Vague, I prod him, age, 30's, 40's, 50's?, he agrees, maybe 50's, tall, short? Short, 5'6" or 5'7, had a backpack, ... hair color? Distinguishing marks? Race? didn't notice, was wearing a ball-cap maybe, no, didn't notice, Caucasian he thought, didn't seem like the type to break into a car...
He's clearly unhelpful, doesn't want to get involved, is impotent in his little shop, if the guy woulda come in the Italian restaurant it would have been a different story, but we're different people...
I get them sharpened, they've been well used, I'm glad to have them back...taking them to be sharpened he stops, turns to me, he knows how unhelpful he's been, deliberately, he apologizes and explains..."I don't want any trouble...once, a bag of stolen hockey equipment, the police came, the suspects broke into my house, the police, in the end, they never laid charges...", he's been fucked by the system before, I get it, but how well can the system be working when the homeless have more power than the police? And we're buying the police hummers, SUV's, helicopters, Glocks and top of the line Mountain Bikes, it's really starting to look like a great job, no expectation of results, merely the playpen of expensive and underused toys...I'm not filled with confidence for the recovery of my other items...
***
Another slow evening at work, and I stand at the restaurant watching the people across the street, the panhandler in front of the liquor store, he's got a 2 or 3 hour shift before he has enough to buy his bottle. And his buddies come and go and talk to him, people drive up and get their booze and leave, I'm not looking for someone in a car, he'll be a pedestrian...all up the main street middle aged men, short men, with backpacks, safety stripes, steel toed boots, make their way home from work...I'm not looking for these men, although they match the description, the safety stripes, workboots, they work for a living, they have some respect for other peoples property. Watch the alley, the same general men, but in an invisible migration of homelessness, middle aged men stopping behind the dumpster across the way to take a piss, stopping to exchange finds, with shopping carts, backpacks, I am seeing for the first time the hundreds of homeless, the nondescript, invisible, stopping, talking, joking with one another...
***
After work, 10:45 or so, a black imperial cruiser pulls up outside my apartment building. I have a feeling, 26 hours later, watch it, smoking on my balcony, still, they could be here for the Russians, The Somalis, the Jamaicans, any number of reasons and I know I'm probably not one of 'em...
It's for me. He's a nice kid, 30 years old, 6'2", big, still doing his time on the beat, he's not one of the lucky ones that gets to drive the tactical hummer or bike around the neighborhood, he's drawn the short straw, I'm the short straw...
"I got warrants so lets start by not looking those up..." He's cool with this. And he takes my complaint, the boo-hoo of the priviledged white guy that's had his luxury shit stolen by a hobo, annoyed, really just complaining, I've no hope, given it up, only reason I called was the skates came in and maybe, maybe, with the description...and I pass it on, he gets it, shakes his head, maybe they could show the shop owner some photos, but they got hundreds of people in the NW matching that description, could be anyone...
I ask what the reporting is for theft from vehicles is, he guesses around 60%, I'd guess a little, a lot less...
In my own experience in Calgary I've had my car prowled and broken into easily a dozen times. Inner city neighborhoods. And while I got used to leaving nothing of value in it it grew annoying, reassembling the dashboard, picking up the papers from the glovebox, looking for the ashtray (they stole my ashtray? WTF?), the few times I forgot something of value - the boys dinghy, it invariably disappeared. And one morning, in Sunalta, outside the apartment getting into a car, the boy perhaps 7, the girl 3, I'm stopped by a helpful police officer, can't help but be helpful, who warns me to "be careful, there's a known crackhouse down the street..." and I'm thinking, well, thank you very much, but shouldn't you be doing something about that...?
Think of the number of thefts that get reported, the reporting process, less than 10% of stolen goods - reported - are ever returned, and most people won't report a smash and grab. The damage is equivalent to the deductible, not worth the paperwork, hassle, increase in insurance, swallow the loss, and so I'm guessing the numbers are an awful lot higher. And I'm noticing, now, the polywrapped rear-passenger windows of other trucks, jeeps, cars, I'm not alone in this by a long shot, and I wonder how many of these people bothered to file a report...
Hop-Ons and Sex in the Alley...
Some of our customers have started reporting "Hop-Ons", people that leap into their vehicle, girls usually, as they slow down to enter the parking lot, offering quick sex, a blowjob, $50.00, $20.00...they bargain hard and fast...the neighborhood is going to shit. The strip-mall and electrical box across from us are perpetually tagged, the liquor store has a wall of shame that is never more than a month old, they have to circulate the photos that fast, so many new thefts are happening...and the nephew, the other day, his long day, popped out back for a cigarette and spotted a couple doing some odd things (from his POV) in the parking lot behind the dumpster...he walks around the owner's car to take a look, a homeless bum is giving it to a blond doggy style, in clear view of the alley, all the condominiums across the way, he sees the nephew and starts...:"What are you, some sort of fucking pervert? Getting off on this are you? Fuck off!!!f" and the nephew points out that they're in our parking lot, it's the middle of a sunny spring afternoon, still watching, he's not quitting, "Give me 10 minutes, would ya buddy?" the bum pleads...
The Broken Window Theory
Aptly enough...
The theory states that maintaining and monitoring urban environments to prevent small crimes such as vandalism, public drinking, and toll-jumping helps to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness, thereby preventing more serious crimes from happening.
To read more on the aptly named Broken Window Theory, read the Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory
To sum it up, enforce the small rules and you'll see big changes. We've been ignoring the small things, homeless, drunk, high, broke, bored, stagger into traffic with a tim-hortons cup, some well intentioned good Samaritan will get you high/drunk again...try this in a suit and you'll be ticketed for jay walking. 10 years now the city has been ignoring the small things, and the big things are starting to show...