Property crime on the rise in Whitehorse, according to RCMP — and businesses say they're feeling the strain

Property crime has been on the rise in Whitehorse, according to RCMP — and some local business owners say they're becoming increasingly frustrated. 

Alina Knaack, the assistant manager of the Paradise Alley gift shop in downtown Whitehorse, estimates that there have been 12 incidents of attempted theft at her story in the past month alone.

"We haven't kept too much track of them because it is a little depressing," Knaack said.

"I would say it's probably about 60/40, percentage-wise, from unsuccessful to successful — unfortunately leaning more to the successful side, because they're unfortunately getting smarter, or they're getting a lot faster."

Last summer, the gift shop on Main Street used a large sidewalk sign to plead with thieves to stop. This summer the store has taken to hosting a "wall of shame," which Knaack says utilizes security-cam images to identify suspected thieves and harassers.

She believes some of the issues surrounding property crime are due to a lack of resources for the RCMP, and a lack of statutes such as trespassing legislation.

Pret Sidhu, the manager of Tags Food and Gas on Fourth Avenue, agrees that property crime has become a big problem. He believes Whitehorse is "going downhill."

"We're letting the people that are bad people keep committing the crimes," Sidhu said.

According to a news release from Yukon RCMP earlier this month, property crimes have been on the rise in Whitehorse. While businesses are most often the target of the crimes, police say the data shows that private property owners are experiencing it as well.

RCMP say that over half of the police calls related to property crime from April to June of this year stemmed from the downtown core. 

Some of the most common crimes, according to police, included theft under $5,000, which saw a 28.6-per-cent increase compared to the same quarter last year, and thefts from a motor vehicle, which saw a 108-per-cent increase. Overall, police say property crimes from April to June increased by 44.7 per cent in Whitehorse compared to the same quarter last year.

Solutions needed, opposition parties say

Yukon's opposition parties have also weighed in recently, saying it's up to the territorial government to better address the issue.

In a news release last week, the Yukon Party called on the territorial government to "properly resource the RCMP" and identify property crime as a priority for the force.

The Yukon NDP also issued a statement, calling on the government to address the increasing crime rate. However, Lane Tredger, the NDP MLA for Whitehorse Centre, argues that an increase in police budgets doesn't necessarily correlate to a decrease in crime.

"We need solutions that are evidence-based, things that will work — and what we know will work is increasing social supports and making sure that downtown is a vibrant, livable place," Tredger said.

Luke Pantin, the executive director of the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, says that part of the issue surrounding the rise in property crime could stem from Whitehorse being a northern community.

"We are isolated, we have a higher cost of living, it's more expensive for the less-privileged to survive," he said, adding that the rise in property crime is being reflected in other Yukon communities as well, including Dawson City.

The Yukon ranks third on the latest crime severity index, published in June by Statistics Canada. The territory also leads the nation in the youth crime severity index.

The crime severity index takes into account the number of reported crimes within a given jurisdiction and the seriousness of the crimes.

'Vying for some change'

Pantin says that a rise in property crime can have other consequences for businesses besides loss in revenue. As crime rates increase, business owners could then be facing higher insurance costs.

Pantin says he's heard that some of the local businesses that seem to be targeted more are those providing food goods, including food trucks. 

"In some cases, some of these crimes are committed because people are hungry, and in other cases they're committed because they want to feed a bad habit," he said.

Knaack says that the most common items stolen from the Paradise Alley gift shop include knives and hoodies. She adds that unless thieves are caught with stolen items in their possession, it is hard for police to apprehend the suspect.

Some local businesses are sharing knowledge about the latest crimes and culprits with one another. While Knaack says most of the security footage is saved for the RCMP, businesses regularly share security photographs with each other.

"I just hope that a whole lot of things get better for a whole lot of people, because I know a lot of people are angry and frustrated and have been vying for some change," Knaack said.