A Winnipeg mother is questioning the priorities of police after it took more than 24 hours for them to respond to a break-in that occurred while her teenage daughter was the only person in the house.

"Show that you care," Angelle de Chevigny said of police, a day after her 14-year-old daughter was startled awake by an intruder slamming the door of her bedroom.

"Instead of saying, 'That's not a priority,' make it a priority. Finding somebody who's texting and driving is not as much of a priority as someone who literally was just petrified."

De Chevigny has since written a letter to the Winnipeg Police Service — addressed to both Chief Danny Smyth and Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman — demanding faster response times.

De Chevigny's daughter Kyara Penner was awakened around 11 a.m. on Wednesday by the intruders. The teen thought it might have been her sister making noise, but a quick phone call proved otherwise. She was otherwise alone, except for the stranger or strangers now fleeing her family's Elmwood home.

Kyara Penner, 14, was sleeping when she was awakened by someone slamming her bedroom door. (Chris Stanton/CBC)

"I kinda have a phobia of robbers, so I definitely knew it was someone in our house, if it wasn't my sister," said Penner.

"I was pretty scared."

Low-priority matter

Once the intruder or intruders had left, Penner exited her room to find doors left open and a ripped screen on a kitchen window.

She called her parents and ran to the corner store.

Within minutes de Chevigny rushed home and called the authorities. Hours later, she called the police's non-emergency line to ask when police would arrive. She was told her matter wasn't a priority because nobody was injured and the next available police car would show up when it could.

No officer showed that day or night.

Police arrived on Thursday afternoon, about an hour after de Chevigny lodged her complaint with police and after CBC News contacted the WPS about the complaint.

She said she understands police may have more pressing emergencies, but she wants urgency when a youth might have been traumatized.

"I get that there were no injuries, but I feel they should have looked at it from a different perspective," she said. "It wasn't a grown-up walking into their house after the [invasion already happened] … it's a 14-year-old who was literally woken up by a home invasion."

There were a few episodes last night where she was crying and not understanding why police hadn't responded. - Angelle de Chevigny

On police orders, de Chevigny didn't touch the window the intruder pried open because she didn't want to disturb any fingerprints. But she closed the window around midnight, because she couldn't keep waiting.

"I still hadn't gotten a call, and I still had to get to bed ... not that I slept."

In her complaint, she wrote it was "absurd" that a crime where a youth was the victim didn't prompt a more immediate knock on her door.

Angelle de Chevigny speaks about a home invasion in her Elmwood home that occurred while her 14-year-old daughter was the only person in the house. (Chris Stanton/CBC)

She says a quick response puts victims at ease, and helps officers themselves to obtain evidence and hear from victims.

It would have helped her daughter, she said.

"There were a few episodes last night where she was crying and not understanding why police hadn't responded," she said in an interview.

She added that two boxes of jewelry were stolen from her home, valued at under $5,000.

Fast response not always practical: WPS

The Winnipeg Police Service acknowledged a timely response isn't always practical when officers are grappling with a "significant rise" in calls for service, violent crime and property crime. In an emailed statement, Const. Jay Murray blamed the city's meth epidemic for the increase.

Since 2013, there's been a 58 per cent increase in emergency calls, a 16 per cent increase in urgent events and a 20 per cent rise in non-urgent events, according to police figures.

"There will be situations where an individual will have to wait for police response — especially when a suspect has fled at the time of the call and is no longer on scene, as was the case in this situation," Murray said.

Penner says she would have slept better if she hadn't had to wait so long for the police response.

"I definitely wish the police would have showed up sooner," she said

"It would have been nice for them to be here before the night was over so I could have some reassurance before I went to bed."