We can all hope that in our lifetimes, we will never have to find out what it feels like to arrive home or wake up to a noise only to discover your residence has been violated.
It's an awful feeling to arrive home to a kicked-in door, get a phone call from a loved one that your shared shelter has been broken into, or discover a jimmied window. But, like it or not, break-ins happen with the thieves often making off with valuables.
But what happens after you realize you've been the victim of a break-in?
First things first – the obvious. Call the police.
"We recommend if someone comes home and they find signs of a break-in … we would suggest they immediately call 911 and have an officer attend," said Cpl. Laurel Kading from the St. Albert RCMP.
If in the home when a break-in is suspected, go somewhere safe in the house or leave, taking the phone so contact is kept up with the 911 dispatchers.
But if arriving home to a kicked-in door, a broken window or some other point of entry, the police would prefer you don't go in.
"A lot of people, their instinct is to go in and look, and we're recommending no," Kading said. Wait somewhere safe for the officer to arrive and let them clear the house.
"First thing we're going to do is look to see if anybody's there. The second thing we're going to do is start to enter into our police investigation," Kading said.
Staying out of the home will help the preservation of any evidence on the scene.
"People sometimes come home and they clean things up, and actually with all great intentions they actually make it really hard to find out who did this," she said.
Officers will look for physical evidence like fingerprints, but also will talk to the victims and neighbours to see if there's been any suspicious activity and to warn the community what's happened.
"They need to be engaged in looking out for each other and reporting anything kind of suspicious," Kading said.
Once the evidence is secured and the scene is deemed safe, the residents can go in to try and figure out what's missing. Sometimes it can take days or weeks to get a thorough list of everything that's gone.
"Typically you're looking at your electronics going, they're looking for cash and they're looking for jewelry," Kading said.
Sometimes other items will go missing – medications, or bags to stuff other property. Most break-and-enter perpetrators are in and out in five minutes, she said.
After the break-in and initial investigation, the officers will try and keep in touch about any progress.
"We do try and keep them updated," Kading said. "There is times where we will conclude the file because there is no more information to go on and that can be very disappointing for a homeowner to hear that. At the same time, if we conclude a file, it's never totally done, so to speak," she said, adding sometimes they'll get a break later.
"We have had times where a criminal is caught and it might solve 10 different break and enters," she said. Many break-and-enter crimes can go without charges being laid, though.
"If we were solving probably a third we would be ecstatic. It is a difficult thing to solve, and I should say solve in that there would be charges laid. There are times where we're pretty sure who did it but we don't have the evidence to charge them," Kading said.
Still, victims shouldn't give up hope – as Kading said, sometimes there's a lucky break. St. Albert RCMP also don't work in a vacuum. There is a crime analyst at the local detachment who looks for trends and patterns, and a regional analyst for the region based in Sherwood Park. Kading said the region tends to share many of the same criminals but also shares information.
Break-and-enter victims are welcome to call and talk to the officer working on their case, she said. Kading said the victims should be notified if the file is closed, and they have file reviewers who go through to make sure such details were handled.
"We do expect our officers to do updates," she said.
Emotional impact can vary
The St. Albert RCMP will often recommend victims to St. Albert Victim Services. Kading said that way the police can focus on the investigation while the victims can access the help they might need to deal with what's happened.
Edith Podruzny, executive director of St. Albert Victim Services, said a referral from police isn't necessary if an impacted person wants to access their resources. Sometimes the victims initially turn down the offer of assistance but are able to seek it out themselves.
"What we do is a referral and a support program," Podruzny said.
While their advocates aren't counsellors, St. Albert Victim Services has a wide variety of programs and resources to which they can refer their clients.
Podruzny said reactions to a break-in can range from shrugging it off to being severely affected. The reactions can start right away, or take a while to set in.
"Traumatic events are very personal," she said. "Everybody deals with it differently."
One of the first things a victim services representative will do with a client is try and find out how they're doing. They can then talk about what services or supports would be best for them, as well as remind the victims about next steps like filing an insurance claim.
Each file is treated uniquely to find the best fits, she said.
Having your home violated can sometimes cause people to suddenly be more nervous about their personal safety elsewhere, she said. Also, people often worry about the personal information that could have been stolen by the thieves.
"We take a lot for granted until something happens, sometimes," Podruzny said. "When your home is hit, it can transfer into the rest of your life.
"It can really unnerve you on so many levels," she said.
Sometimes, worries or fear can come back long after the incident.
In addition to referrals and supports, victim services offers literature with many safety tips. The community is welcome to use their services, she said.
Kading noted often they hear of children being upset over the break-in.
"We know of kids that don't sleep for a long time because they think the bad guy's coming back in their bedroom window," Kading said.
An ounce of prevention
You can't make yourself impregnable to break-ins, but you can make yourself a less attractive target.
Using crime prevention through environmental design techniques, residents can try and cut their chances of being hit, or being hit again, Kading said.
This includes looking at trees and shrubs to see if they're blocking visual sightlines on your doors and perhaps cutting them back, so your neighbours could see. Consider things like sensor lights – though Kading suggested keeping your neighbours in mind before installing such items.
"We really recommend people take a look at their property," Kading said, adding the community policing section is open to coming out and giving some feedback.
"The idea with crime prevention is that you try and make it difficult because if your house is too difficult they're going to go somewhere else," she said.
Check locks, she suggested. Make sure they go deeply into a secure door. Kading said often deadbolts might only go slightly into a flimsy frame, and are vulnerable to being bypassed.
Take a look at windows and patio door security, other popular entry points. While you don't want your home to suddenly become inconvenient to you due to security measures, Kading suggested many people could up their security levels without causing too much trouble.
To increase your chances of getting your property back if it's stolen, she suggests considering engraving electronics with identifiers like your driver's license number. Take photos of your belongings, make notes, write down serial numbers.
"There's a lot of property that gets recovered that we can never determine who to return it to," she said.
While it might be upsetting to lose a computer or a gaming console, often the more traumatic losses are items that are irreplaceable and have sentimental value.
"It's something else to lose the ring that Grandma gave you," Kading noted.
Get to know your neighbours, she said. See if there's a neighbourhood crime watch. Tell a neighbour you trust if you're going away, or call if you see something suspicious going on in your neighbourhood.
Many don't like to think about these sorts of things happening in St. Albert.
"St. Albert is a very safe community but it's not immune to these things happening," Kading said. "We need the community to be vigilant. We need the community to educate themselves."
