Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 16/01) - Some business owners say break-ins for booze are starting to hit their bottom line.

On Nov. 6, Broadway on 50th was broken into for the fifth time. Liquor was the target.

"I am a very responsible bar owner and I understand there is a problem in Yellowknife but what more do I have to do?" asked owner Barbara Bird, after a window was shattered in the latest robbery.

The thefts have cost the business thousands of dollars in stolen alcohol and Bird has spent more than $3,000 to upgrade the restaurant's alarm and security system.

"How much more money do I have to spend?"

In the latest break-in, a man was videotaped entering the Centre Square Mall through the Bank of Montreal entrance at about 5:30 a.m. The camera recorded him wandering the halls then squeezing through the iron gate at the mall entrance of Broadway's lounge.

Once again, the security camera videotaped him in the act, stealing three bottles of liquor.

He tried to get out through the door, but panicked and kicked out a window to escape the building as seen on video. It recorded him dropping one bottle of liquor in his frantic escape.

A concern for Bird is how secure the mall is.

"All Bank of Montreal has to do is fix that gate," she said.

Jennifer Marchant, general manager of Centre Square Mall, and a spokesperson from the Bank of Montreal said they are determining who is responsible for securing the gate.

"That is something we will have to look into," Marchant said. "This is really unfortunate."

Bird is also concerned no one seemed to care that the alarm rang for about an hour-and-a-half before anyone called her.

"You don't have to get involved (if you hear it)," she said. "All you have to do is call the RCMP."

Other business establishments that have suffered profit loss due to alcohol and cash robberies include the Wildcat Cafe, which was broken into several times over the summer.

The Raven Pub was also broken into last month, and booze was taken. A man was arrested and convicted for that break-in.

The Legion has also been broken into for booze on three occasions in the last four months. Branch manager Lorne Power said businesses cannot rely on RCMP all the time.

"With all due respect to the RCMP, there is so much crime going on here that break and enters are not exactly at the top of their list," he said.

He added more security measures to the Legion after a couple hundred dollars in booze was taken and some cash.

"One time they were very resourceful and even took some mix," he said.

Police have not been able to identify the man caught on video at Broadway and have not arrested anyone at this point.

"Substance abuse is one of the biggest motivators for property crime," said Sgt. Al McCambridge. "Some break and enters are motivated by other means, but even financial reasons will have a spin-off for substances."

McCambridge said the number of actual break and enters recorded last year was about 200. So far this year there have been 144.

"That is down quite substantially," he said.