Qikiqtarjuaq and the missing $10,000
This week, the main topic in town is a break-in earlier this month at the local co-op. Besides things like I-pods and cigarettes, the burglars also broke into the safe and made off with $10,000. A large group of young people, (mostly under age 18) were involved. The police identified the suspects quickly and were able to recover some of the stolen items. But to date, they haven’t been able to trace the cash.
This may sound like a small-time crime to those of us living in the South, but in a place of this size, there’s a profound sense of hurt rippling throughout the community.
It seems to be magnified by the fact that so many suspects were caught, but that none of them would cough up the cash, or even say what happened to it. That’s stung a lot of people. There seems to be a sense of betrayal among many in Qikiqtarjuaq that a group of local youth would target the co-op, a business owned and operated by the community, for the benefit of the community. That the suspects still haven’t paid back the money or explained what happened to it seems to have rubbed salt in the wound.
From what I’ve been told, the suspects under 18 years old were dealt with within the community justice system rather than by the police.
Not everyone is entirely satisfied with the results.
Both the group of teenagers and their parents have been pointed out to me by locals as I’ve been walking around town. And as one Qikiqtarjuaq resident pointed out, the kids always seem to be laughing and horsing around outside. It’s the only their parents and grandparents that seem to have pained and embarrassed expressions on their faces.