‘Vile behaviour’: Retail chain demands accountability for B.C. shoplifting violence

A retail chain with 79 stores in western Canada including 52 in B.C., is demanding action and justice for what it describes as an “ongoing tsunami of crime” after Global News reported on the low charge rate in a recent VPD anti-shoplifting blitz.

Retail violence has increased by 500 per cent over four years, according to London Drugs’ loss prevention general manager, and the pharmacy chain is now spending upwards of $1.5 million more on security at its Vancouver stores than it did two years ago.

“We’re seeing a lot of random sort of violence or threats that take place, a lot of vile behaviour, racism, abuse of customers and staff around the people who are doing these crimes,” Tony Hunt told Global News in an interview Tuesday.

Eight security staff were on shift Tuesday afternoon at the chain’s busy location on Granville at Georgia streets in downtown Vancouver.

London Drugs is one of 28 retailers which participated in a Vancouver police shoplifting crackdown in February and March.

Of the 278 charges police recommended to Crown counsel, more than half (56 per cent) were not approved.

“It’s really unfortunate when so much work goes into providing solid cases … and so many of them end up not being acted upon once it gets to the courts,” Hunt said.

Crown counsel’s charge approval standard is a two-part test of whether there is a substantial likelihood of conviction, and whether or not the prosecution is in the public interest.

“I’m not sure that their perception of what’s in the public interest and my customers and our employees’ perception of what’s in the public interest matches,” Hunt said.

“I would ask the government at the highest levels to look at how does this system not serve the people of British Columbia.”

2:02 Sobering numbers from VPD crackdown on shoplifting

Police said 47 repeat offenders were among the 217 arrests during the undercover operation from Feb. 18 to March 10.

Hunt believes people should be able to come to work without fearing random violence.

“It’s terribly frustrating, it’s not right,” he told Global News.

“Our customers and our employees deserve a system of justice that is going to be able to make sure that when somebody is stuck in a loop of crime and it’s hurting those innocent people, that somebody’s going to do something about this.”

1:21 Vancouver police shoplifting blitz leads to 217 arrests

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma declined an interview request Tuesday.

Ministry staff told Global News the Attorney General operates at arm’s length from the courts, and the BC Prosecution Service acts independently of police and government when making prosecutorial decisions.

“I think that if the attorney general had to put up with somebody coming into their office every day and taking things off their desk and terrorizing their employees, even if it was a small amount, the fact that this would be happening in that office would cause them to act,” Hunt said.

“We really need leadership to make sure people are safe.”