Vehicle break-ins spike in Greater Sudbury

Vehicle break-ins in Greater Sudbury have more than doubled this year, according to police statistics. Madison Marier reports.

Vehicle break-ins have increased this year in Sudbury, leaving some drivers wondering if their theft is being taken seriously by the police.

That includes Deborah Brouse, who works downtown and had her purse stolen recently.

Brouse said she left her purse inside her car parked in her driveway for a few minutes when she ran inside her house to get her sunglasses.

She returned a few minutes later to find her purse was gone.

“I was super frustrated that, you know, I had left my car door open for a minute and, you know, that happened,” Brouse said.

“But I was really happy that I do have banking alerts on my (bank and credit) cards.”

She said she is frustrated with what she believes is a lack of police response.

“I think the frustration is that there seems to be no repercussions for things that are done,” Brouse said.

“And the petty crimes downtown, we are supposed to have police support, but it seems to be like few and far between. I’m hoping that it gets better.”

Another victim of a car break-in, Kyah Musgrave, said the experience was unsettling.

‘An invasion of privacy’

“It definitely felt like an invasion of privacy when I walked into my car and I noticed that there was everything everywhere and stuff that was missing,” Musgrave said.

“And just because I didn’t lock it, it made me feel like it was my fault.”

In addition to locking car doors, she said having security cameras around your home would help police with their investigation.

“If I did have a camera around my property, maybe the police would have been a little bit more receptive to finding the person,” she said.

Spiked in the last year

Greater Sudbury police said these sorts of incidents have spiked in the last year.

“From Jan 1 to July 27, there have been 68 incidents where a vehicle window was smashed,” police said, up from the same period last year, when there were 29 such incidents.

“The Greater Sudbury Police Service takes every report of crime very seriously, especially in those high-volume areas,” said police spokesperson Sarah Kaelas.

“We’re always doing our best to follow up with incidents and reassure everybody that public safety is of the utmost concern for us.”

The theft of bank and credit cards makes it a more complicated investigation, Kaelas said.

“It can potentially be an identity theft situation, and that trickles into our fraud department,” she said.

“So it turns into a more complex police investigation. And those things do take time. But again, (Sudbury police are) committed to solving those crimes and holding offenders accountable.”