The Save-Our-Streets coalition is taking the latest crime severity index numbers from Stats Canada with a grain of salt.
The group noted while BC’s saw an 11% drop in this category, its lowest level in six years – shoplifting has spiked by 66 per cent over the last decade, pushing many business owners to their wits end.
Co-founder, Jess Ketchum told Vista Radio retail theft is far from a Vancouver-based problem.
“It is Prince George, it is Quesnel, Williams Lake and its in the Kootenays, Kamloops as well as all over the Island. It’s a matter of this crime increasing over a ten-year period.”
He added retail theft often escalates to violence these days, which puts workers in a tough spot.
“It’s one thing to be impacted by somebody coming in to a place of business and stealing, but it’s an entirely different situation when more and more seem to be coming in with a very threatening manor.”
Ketchum noted the issue isn’t so much about what is being reported, it’s what’s not being publicized that is the group’s biggest worry.
“It’s not that they are inaccurate for what they are reporting but it’s what they are not reporting that is the problem. We have seen study after study that demonstrates just how pervasive non-reporting has become.”
“So many of the crimes nowadays go unreported because either people have lost faith in the justice system to do anything or they just don’t have the time to be making these claims while running their businesses.”
In 2023, London Drugs President and COO Clint Mahlman, who is also part of Save Our Streets, noted their Parkwood Place location in Prince George had one of the highest crime rates ranking in the top five for loss.
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