Victims of break-ins should call police even for minor thefts, police say. (Toronto Observer file photo)
A lot of house and car break-ins are going unreported, but Toronto police say they should always be notified.
“Even if it’s a small break-in, we need these situations reported to the police so that we can deal with it,” said Const. Jennifferjit Sidhu after commenting on a car break-in on Leander Court in East York on Sunday morning.
“We got the [Leander] break-in on camera from a resident, which is great,” she said. “We need these reports in order to help our investigations.”
Break-ins are not rare in Toronto, as police make arrests on a daily basis, Sidhu said.
But reporting them is rare.
“When we get reports, it makes us aware of these situations,” she said. “We have different techniques of monitoring the neighbourhood.”
Every report makes difference
The theft does not have to be major to be considered relevant to the police, Sidhu said. “There are online reports for residents to fill out if the theft is minor.”
The online reports are crucial for police and can help develop patterns.
“We really encourage more people to do this,” Sidhu said. “The more reports we get in a certain area, the better our investigation is.”