Shattered window at Saskatoon Cafe leads to call for extra security

The Purrfect Cup Cafe in Saskatoon woke up to a shattered window by its front entrance.

Thankfully, the 24 cats who call the cafe home were held far away from the broken window.

Cats Eleven and Mozza from the Purrfect Cup Cat Cafe are thankful for community support during the holiday season. (The Purrfect Cup Cat Cafe/Facebook)

This is the first time a window has been broken in the almost three years the cafe has been in business, but Sydney Sylvester, Owner of Purrfect Cup Cafe, said the business is no stranger to being the victim of the crime.

“Not even a couple weeks ago all our stickers were stolen,” she said. “We’ve also had people come in and reach into the fridge and start grabbing food.”

Sylvester said this is a trend she’s noticed with other buildings along 2nd Avenue.

“The old high-performance building on the corner, they had broken windows all the time,” Sylvester said. “Kelvin’s Perks just had his windows broken not too long ago.”

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Sylvester noted that every couple of weeks she will see plywood on windows in the downtown area.

The cost to replace the window is around $1,200 and Sylvester said they have received enough donations to be able to pay for it.

Purrfect Cup is also eligible for a downtown grant that would cover up to 50 per cent of the cost to replace the window.

“They (the city) have a grant for businesses who have been vandalized,” she said.

The window is expected to be fixed on Monday.

The cafe is also starting to increase its security measures.

“I’ve been considering locking the front door even while I’m here,” she said.

Sylvester would also like to see more security downtown, something Saskatoon Police Chief Cam McBride, is hopeful will happen in 2025.

“We do anticipate having more opportunities to do proactive police work,” he said. “We look at the police per population, we look at how much capacity we have to do proactive policing and that’s only going to start getting better in 2025.”

McBride said that even an increase in police presence wouldn’t get rid of the crime entirely.

“These are crimes of opportunity,”  he said. “You can’t have police everywhere all the time.”

Saskatoon Police have been watching crime statistics and McBride said they haven’t noticed an increase in vandalized buildings.

“We know that property crime generally speaking across the City of Saskatoon is down,” he said. “That’s encouraging and often property crime fluctuates depending on who’s living in what area and what might be going on.”

McBride suggested there are some steps business owners can take to help limit the level of crime, like installing security cameras, buying plexiglass or decorative bars.