A Winnipeg woman wants to know why it took six days for officers to take a written statement after her purse and vehicle were stolen.
Loreili Isaak was working behind the bar at the Windsor Hotel last Tuesday morning when a former employee who was banned from the business came in with a man Isaak hadn't seen before, who was carrying a backpack.
Isaak told the woman to leave, and says the woman told her she only had $1.25 to play the VLTs and wouldn't be there long.
"I started walking towards the VLT to tell her, 'You've gotta go, you're not allowed.' I was halfway — I turned and [the man] is behind the bar. I say, 'What the heck? What are you doing behind the bar?'" said Isaak.
She says the man mumbled something to her then opened a cabinet behind the bar. She believes he was looking for money but found none.
"I run, he opens the second door, grabs my bag runs out. I run after him. By this time he is gone. I'm screaming at Phil — he works at the vendor — 'He stole my bag!'" Isaak said.
Isaak says she, the vendor employee and a man staying at the hotel ran after the man but couldn't catch him. Isaak phoned 911.
Less than an hour later, she called police again after a co-worker noticed Isaak's car was not in the parking lot.
"When we looked at the [bar's surveillance] video, [it appeared] he came back and stole my car, 'cause my keys were … in the bag," that was stolen, said Isaak.
Isaak said she had purchased the 2018 Mitsubishi Mirage 10 days before it was stolen.
"The woman [the man] came in here with used to work here, and she hasn't worked here for about two years," she said.
She thinks the two came in to rob the bar.
"And instead they got my stuff."
Isaak said the 911 operator told her an officer would contact her but by the next day, when she still hadn't heard from anyone, she decided go to police instead.
The Winnipeg police headquarters building is kitty-corner to the Garry Street hotel, so Isaak put the surveillance video onto a memory stick and walked it over.
Isaak says over the next few days, she walked to HQ again and called a few more times to find out why no one had come to see her. She was told police were busy but was assured an officer would come and take a written statement from her. By the time somebody did, six days had passed and Isaak was angry.
"When they walked in I said, 'You know, I'm really mad at the police.… I cannot believe that you took all this time to come get a statement from me.' Unbelievable.… It's amazing. Someone steals my bag, steals my car and nobody cares," said Isaak.
High-priority calls come first
Winnipeg police Const. Jay Murray said response times are dependent on the number of calls in the queue and the threat level each represents.
"At the end of the day, we're not able to attend a property crime where there is no threat to someone's life if a call such as a stabbing comes out, or if there is an imminent threat to someone at a call like a domestic incident. We have to prioritize everything," said Murray.
He added that just because police aren't able to attend in person right away to take a written statement, it doesn't mean officers aren't already working on the case.
Murray said when Isaak reported her vehicle stolen on April 17, officers took a statement from her over the phone and collected information about the incident. That information was then entered into the police database and within hours, Isaak's file was assigned to investigators in the major crimes unit.
"There are a number of investigative steps that can be taken behind the scenes that can occur without a complainant having to be talked to a third time," Murray said. "We had a lot of what we needed to do without that witness statement."
He said theoretically, if the police pulled over the car the next day, they would have had enough to make an arrest based on the complainant's initial statement, and officers wouldn't have to track her down for the written statement before making an arrest.
"Is this unusual [to wait] for six days for a statement? It happens. Unfortunately, it does. It's a consequence of a priority system," said Murray.
Despite that, Isaak said the whole situation has left a bad taste in her mouth.
"I have always felt, and grew up believing, police are here to protect and help a person in need," she said.
"Now this secure feeling has totally left me and I am wondering, 'Where do I turn now?'"