British Columbia’s official Opposition says the case of a Vancouver Island business targeted by thieves dozens of times shows the province is failing to tackle property crime.
On Wednesday morning, thieves broke through a concrete wall at Jeff Ross’s Qualicum Beach Gold Silver Guy jewelry shop, where they smashed into a safe and made off with an estimated $60,000 worth of product.
“They took their time, they knew they had time, which leads us to believe the persons who did this were not amateurs,” Oceanside RCMP Sgt. Shane Worth told Global News.
“The suspects in this incident were sophisticated. This was not their first time doing a break and enter. They went in and did defeat the security systems in the business, so we are left right now with very little to go on.”
According to Ross, this is the 22nd time one of his three shops — located in Qualicum Beach, Nanaimo and Duncan — has been targeted by thieves in 25 years.
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It’s the fifth time this year, and the third time the thieves have been able to break through a cinderblock wall, he said.
BC United mental health and addictions critic Elenore Sturko put the blame at the feet of B.C.’s governing New Democrats.
“This government is doing nothing to address the root cause of these issues, if they are social or behavioural or health-related issues,” she said.
“Even if we continue to be a little bit stricter on individuals who are committing property crime, that has to be coupled with opportunities for them to participate in programs to help rehabilitate them from social, behavioural and other health issues like addictions.”
The B.C. government has faced growing pressure in recent months to tackle crime, including a series of public safety rallies, some in Vancouver Island communities.
The NDP’s response has included pressing the federal government to toughen bail measures and to implement new Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative hubs, including in Nanaimo and Victoria.
“We have established regional teams across the province that monitor repeat offenders to ensure the courts have all the information that they need and also to find ways to intervene to stop the activity, the repeated cycle of law-breaking that some of these individuals are involved in,” Premier David Eby said.
Sturko said those measures do little to address property crime — and leave business owners like Ross with little recourse.
“How can we expect people to go on like that, and how in turn can we expect businesses to pay for full-time security?” she said.
“What kind of situation are we living in in this province right now where we can’t police our communities, we can’t ensure the safety of our communities from those who might intend, through desperation or whatever, to do property crimes?”
She went on to tie the issue to the province’s three-year drug decriminalization pilot, which she said is missing necessary components such as penalties for crimes committed while under the influence of drugs and mandatory treatment for drug users.
Ross, who said he’s lost more than $120,000 in inventory this year and can no longer obtain insurance, told Global News he believes the legal system is responsible for incentivizing repeat crime.
“The police do what they can,” he said. “But it comes down to a deterrent, a court system that is not stopping the criminals.”
He added that he’s not sure what the latest theft means for his business, including whether he can keep the doors open.
“It’s too early to say what my choices are, but when you get knocked down so many times it’s rather difficult to get up,” he said.
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