When Vancouver police made more than 200 arrests during a three-week crackdown on chronic and violent shoplifting earlier this year, Walley Wargolet warned our city was on the cusp of becoming San Francisco – where brazen shoplifters act like they have a right to steal.
Five months later, the executive director of the Gastown Business Improvement Society said the group continues to see blatant shoplifting impact businesses across Vancouver.
“That really troubles me,” Wargolet told Global News in an interview Monday.
“Just the nonchalantness of folks’ ability to just steal things and walk out the door like there’s no shame in it, and that is a scary place to be.”
Between Feb. 18 and March 10, the VPD arrested 217 people including 47 repeat offenders during an anti-shoplifting blitz with 28 participating businesses.
Police recommended 278 charges after Project Barcode.
Global News cross-checked court records and determined that so far, 155 cases or 56 per cent, have resulted in no charges.
Of the 147 charges approved by Crown counsel, 58 — or 39 per cent — saw convictions. Twenty-six charges, accounting for 18 per cent, were stayed, while 62 charges — or 42 per cent — are still pending.
One charge was abated, which is what happens when a suspect dies.
Of the suspects convicted, the majority received a one-day jail sentence followed by probation.
“I think this is one of the patterns that were most concerned about,” Wargolet said.
“We caught these thieves in the act, we had very secure, solid evidence,” Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison told Global News.
The Vancouver Police Department said its focus is apprehending offenders and securing enough evidence to support criminal charges. Once cases enter the court system, Addison said police have no control over whether a suspect is charged or convicted.
“We understand it is frustrating for businesses and it’s frustrating for many of our officers who work hard to identify criminals when there’s a perception that these people aren’t suffering the consequences that many believe that they should suffer.”
Criminal defence lawyer Leo Fumano said Crown counsel’s charge approval standard is a two-part test of whether there’s a substantial likelihood of conviction, and whether or not the prosecution is in the public interest.
“There’s no sort of freeze on charging people for shoplifting,” Fumano told Global News in an interview Monday.
Judges and Crown counsel are aware that there’s a toll it takes on the public and Fumano said he believes the Crown is doing everything it can to look at charges and deal with things on a case-by-case basis.
“I can assure you the Crown’s not saying, ‘Oh were not interested in this,’ there is a very good reason, particularly with chronic offenders to proceed and to lay these charges,” said Fumano.
Wargolet said he hopes to see federal bail reform legislation, or Bill C-48, passed this fall to give the provinces more tools to tackle prolific and violent offenders, and to hold people accountable for their actions.
Casually walking into a business and taking something off the shelf and walking out without paying for it is a shocking social norm that Wargolet said we cannot allow to be normalized.
Otherwise, he said, we’re not far from San Francisco — where stores have chained up their freezers to prevent theft.
“It doesn’t take long to, you know, inch to that type of activity,” Wargolet said.
“That’s the reason why we need our provincial leaders and our federal leaders to take action now.”
It’s crucial Wargolet said, as businesses are also dealing with vandalism costs and other pressures including inflation, employment costs, and pandemic-era Canada Emergency Business Account loan repayments, all of which are impacting their ability to remain open.
Vancouver mayor Ken Sim said San Francisco “provides a cautionary tale.”
Sim told Global News his ABC party is delivering on its public safety promises but senior levels of government need to step up.
“Or we won’t be solving the problem,” said Sim.
Global News requested a response from B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma on why there was no charge approval in nearly 60 per cent of the Project Barcode cases sent to Crown – and how this is any deterrent for repeat offending including violent shoplifting.
The Attorney General’s ministry stated the “BCPS (BC Prosecution Service) would be in a better position to respond to your request,” and forwarded our inquiry.
The BCPS sent an unsolicited response to Global News stating it cannot comment on the decisions in each individual case, but “no Reports to Crown Counsel alleging criminal conduct forwarded by police to the BCPS for assessment are approved to court unless the conditions set out in the Crown Counsel Policy Manual are met.”
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