Do window-breakers plague Cabbagetown?

By Angela Scappatura –

Which came first, police overwhelmed with complaints to the point of inaction, or citizens not informing the cops when crimes are committed?

Or is it either?

Here’s an example of broken-windows theory Toronto style:

When M.J. Suhonos saw that his girlfriend’s car had been vandalized twice in as many weeks in Cabbagetown, he set out to find others who had experienced the same thing.

“I wanted to get feedback from other people to see if they had noticed it being more prevalent recently,” Suhonos said. “The fact that it was the first time, then it was twice in two weeks made me think it had increased.”

Suhonos posted an Internet message on craigslist after the rear right window of his girlfriend’s car had been smashed while parked in the Parliament and Spruce street area.

He also noticed that a few cars nearby had been damaged as well.

The fact that there was no apparent attempt to steal items from her vehicle was an aspect that Suhonos found puzzling.

“The car didn’t look terribly rifled through and there wasn’t anything taken,” Suhonos said. “It was a bit odd that it had happened because she has parked overnight in the same area for about six months and never had any problems with it.”

Suhonos received a number of responses from people in the area who had experienced the same problem. One of those responses was from a former resident near Winchester and Parliament who knew of some break-ins occurring.

“She said it was sort of something that they put up with,” Suhonos said. “People just looked out for each other’s cars.”

Other craigslist messages attributed the crimes to adolescent behaviour. One respondent wrote, “There’s nothing you can do, sounds like kids having fun.”

Constable Paul Nadeau from 51 Division said that he is not aware of a particular increase in vandalism.

“It is pretty steady throughout the entire division,” Nadeau said. “If all of a sudden there is a huge increase obviously we are going to take a look at it.”

The problem, according to police, is that many people do not bother to report crimes to police.

“If people aren’t calling it in we don’t know what’s going on out there,” said Nadeau.

Suhonos says he somewhat regrets not reporting either incident to police but does not think it would have impacted the situation much. “I’ve lived in Cabbagetown for a number of years,” Suhonos said.

“I’m sure if I went down to 51 and said hey guys, there’s someone smashing windows in Cabbagetown, they would kind of look at me and say so?” But that’s not so, says Nadeau.