The Car Break-In Epidemic in Centre-Sud
Jan. 28th 2023 • Concordia Reporting Assignment
As Adel Bachene stood on his street the evening of Jan. 7, he witnessed a man attempt to steal his neighbour’s running vehicle. It was only two weeks later that he woke up to his own car window smashed to pieces.
“It wasn’t very surprising,” Bachene said. Car break-ins in Centre-Sud have escalated to a near-daily occurrence over the past six months.
On Feb. 1, when Bachene called the police to report his broken window, the police said they had received 30 other complaints about car break-ins in the area that week.
According to the city’s public safety site, car break-ins in Montreal are the highest since 2015, with the greatest number in the Ville Marie borough.
The neighbourhood of Centre Sud suffers from high levels of poverty and drugs. Centraide’s 2016-2017 report said that 34 per cent of residents live on low income. The area has 184 per cent higher rate of drug-related offences compared to the median of Montreal, according to the 2019 SPVM Crime Profile of Centre-Sud.
“People don’t leave valuables in their cars anymore,” Bachene said. He had $200 worth of electronics taken from his glove box.
Fortunately, Bachene was able to recover footage of the break-in from a neighbour’s security camera, and the investigation is still underway.
However, others were left with no assistance from law enforcement.
Elena Vivas has worked as a midwife in the area since 2018. She was aware of crime in the area but was still shocked when she walked out to see her own car window broken in the summer of 2022.
“I felt sad, scared and worried about how I was going to work the rest of her week with no car.” Vivas said.
She was driving a Honda with no valuables, only baby seats for her kids. Nothing was taken from inside her car.
“I drive a mom car,” Vivas said and explained how she never thought someone would break into a car like that.
The police told her that without video footage, there was nothing they could do to help.
SPVM has tips on their website to avoid being victim to a break-in, which includes locking doors and not keeping valuables in the car. However, these precautions are irrelevant to most break-ins in Centre-Sud.
As older cars with no valuables inside are being targeted, there is very little that residents can do to avoid being next.
Many have voiced concerns that the police have been negligent to the issue. A resident of the area wrote to SPVM about the issue and received an email from Sergeant Phillipe Tremblay on Feb. 1. He stated that they are aware of the upsurge in vehicle thefts in the area and have prepared an action plan to counter the problem.
As Vivas said, “This area needs to be taken care of.” This sentiment rings true with the voices of the Centre-Sud community; action must be taken, or the epidemic of car vandalism is only bound to grow.