Vancouver police announced Friday that they have made 258 arrests in the latest wave of their crackdown of “violent and chronic shoplifters.”
Police also that they had recovered nearly $57,000 in stolen merchandise.
The arrests, part of Project Barcode, were made during a two-week operation between Sept. 11 and Sept. 26.
“We’ve seen the impact rampant theft and violent shoplifting has had in other North American cities, where some major retailers have decided to no longer do business,” Staff Sgt. Mario Mastropieri said.
The first phase of Project Barcode was launched in February, after police said they recorded a 30 per cent increase in shoplifting in 2022 over previous years.
“These incidents include where weapons or physical force were used during the commission of a shoplifting offence,” Mastropieri said.
According to police, the September crackdown caught 25 people identified as repeat offenders, and resulted in the seizure of 26 weapons.
Police are forwarding 112 reports to Crown prosecutors recommending charges.
“As a result of this project, violent shoplifting decreased citywide by 22 per cent during the duration of the project,” Mastropieri said.
“Mid-sized businesses like London Drugs, along with grocery stores, dollar stores and clothing retailers were the hardest hit.”
Tony Hunt, general manager of loss prevention for London Drugs said retailers across Canada are facing a “tsunami of crime.”
He pointed to Statistics Canada data showing a 30 per cent in shoplifting last year, adding that the crime is typically under-reported.
“Our primary concern as employers is the abuse of front-line employees with aggressive and violent behaviours, with increasing frequency and intensity — often the offenders who terrorize employees or customers are well know repeat offenders,” he said.
“Crime and safety issues are threatening the survivability of retail businesses, and the economic health of our communities is at stake.”
Mastropieri said the department’s crackdown will continue through the holiday season.
In addition to the 258 Vancouver arrests, the department coordinated with police across the region, resulting in another 82 arrests by investigators in Delta, Langley, Richmond and Burnaby.
The update follows another Project Barcode crackdown in the spring, when police announced the arrest of hundreds of accused shoplifters, recommending 278 charges.
A Global News review of those recommendations later found just 56 per cent of them resulted in actual charges.
The BC Prosecution Service said it had actually received just over 140 files from the department, 83 per cent of which resulted in charges.
The Vancouver Police Department said the case files it submitted included 234 charge recommendations, but that more than 100 other files were not forwarded for a variety of reasons including departmental discretion, insufficient evidence or uncooperative witnesses.
In the end, 48 per cent of police files from Project Barcode did not result in Reports to Crown Counsel and more than half — or 57 per cent of the files – did not result in charges.
With files from Kristen Robinson
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