Police blowoff upsets bike theft victim
Matthew Doleman, 13, tried to get police officers to help during a theft in progress, but was told to phone the police station. (CBC)
A Regina teenager who tried to alert police to a theft in progress is upset that the culprits who stole his bicycle got away while the officers advised the boy to phone the police station.
The theft took place a week ago, on Matthew Doleman's 13th birthday.
The youngster had spent the summer working odd jobs to save enough money for his bike.
'I told them I needed their help because my bike has just been stolen.'—Theft victim Matthew Doleman, 13
It was taken while Doleman and some friends were playing in a park. He says they saw the thieves take off with his bike.
"It was just the bike they got and then they took off down the street," Doleman told CBC News on Thursday. "I decided to borrow my friend's bike to ride and see if I could find them."
Within a few minutes, Doleman said, he spotted his stolen bike and the rider about a block away. He also happened to see a Regina police cruiser.
"Then I seen these two police officers and I pulled them over and I told them what happened," Doleman said. "I told them I needed their help because my bike has just been stolen."
Doleman said the reaction was not what he expected.
"They were like, 'Oh. Just go call the police. They'll help you and they'll take a statement,'" he recalled.
Parents not impressed
With that, the bike thieves got away and Doleman walked home to tell his parents what happened.
Shelly Hanson, Matthew's mother, noted that the officers did not say they were on another, higher-priority, assignment. She wonders what youngsters should do when they need police assistance.
"Are they allowed to go up to them and say, 'This is going on, Can you help me?'" Hanson told CBC News. "Or are they going to be told: 'No go home?'"
A spokeswoman for the Regina Police Service refused to answer questions about the incident involving Doleman.
Police actions defended
Elizabeth Popowich nevertheless defended police officers in general, saying they must assess situations on a case-by-case basis.
Regina Police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich says officers make case-by-case judgments on how to respond to citizen requests.(CBC)
"Including what sort of condition the victim may be in. Whether the event has just occurred and whether or not the officer is off to something more urgent," Popowich told CBC News.
Doleman said he would still try to talk to police if a similar situation arose again. But he said he would not have high expectations of the officers.
"Maybe they'll do something about it, maybe they won't," he said.
Hanson said she thought about making a formal complaint about what happened, but decided not to.
"I was gonna go in and talk to them and say. 'This isn't right,' but then I thought: Well, I've talked to quite a few people, my neighbours and stuff, and they say, 'What good will it do?'"
Very very deep. Also empty.
