'Something isn't working in the system’: VPD operation highlights concerning shoplifting trends
'Something isn't working in the system’: VPD operation highlights concerning shoplifting trends
During a three-week operation dubbed Project Barcode, Vancouver police say they made 217 arrests and recovered nearly $80,000 in stolen merchandise.
"We continue to see an alarming trend towards repeat offenders and people using violence to commit their crimes," said Staff Sgt. Mario Mastropieri of the Vancouver Police Department. "There was one retailer that was targeted 53 times by shoplifters during the course of this project."
VPD says 47 of those arrested were repeat offenders. According to the report, mid-sized retailers including London Drugs, The Dollar Store and grocery stores were the most targeted. Twenty-four weapons were also seized, most of them being knives.
"Physical assaults, threats of violence and the abuse of retail workers has escalated, and we need to continue to work together to stop it," said Troy Hunt, the general manager of loss prevention for London Drugs in Greater Vancouver.
In 2022, the VPD says shoplifting rose 30 percent from the previous year. However, police believe the numbers are likely higher, as retailers often don't report small theft.
"You've heard about violence and that's a huge concern," said Walley Wargolet of the Gastown Business Improvement Society. "But there's also this attitude that folks can just come in and take what they want and feel like there really is no impact."
Both Hunt and Wargolet expressed frustrations over the fact that repeat offenders play a major role in the issue.
"If somebody is charged with the offence and they're back out committing the same offence within a couple of days, potentially hurting somebody, then something isn't working in the system," said Hunt.
"We have to look outside the box that we're currently living in because it's just not working. It's as simple as that," said Wargolet.
Police say that the number of shoplifting incidents that involve violence is down 45 percent in 2023 so far, but still remains a source of concern.
Last year, Vancouver saw an average of 20 violent shoplifting incidents per month.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is committing another $500 million to help Ukraine's military fight back against Russia's invasion, including by sending more weapons. He made the announcement standing beside Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today during an unannounced visit to Kyiv to show Canada's support for the embattled country's fight against Russia.
Fires across the country are burning millions of hectares of land but what does that really look like? CTVNews.ca compared the blazes to some cities and lakes in the country showing just how big they have gotten.
Foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston has resigned, CTV News has confirmed. In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Johnston cited the intense politicization of his appointment and work, as the reason for his coming departure.
A Ukrainian-Canadian teenager is on an emotional journey to capture the destruction of the Russian invasion, including of his childhood home, on camera.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents, according to an indictment unsealed Friday that alleges that he described a Pentagon 'plan of attack' and shared a classified map related to a military operation.
A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Preventative Medicine Reports by a group of international researchers has found that post-secondary students with unhealthy eating habits can go on to suffer from disease and mental health issues for years to come.
Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson shocked Britain on Friday by quitting as a lawmaker after being told he will be sanctioned for misleading Parliament.
Showers are predicted Saturday over the aggressive wildfire threatening Tumbler Ridge, but forecasters say thunderstorms could sweep through the parched region without bringing any rain.
Wildfire officials are sending an additional 20 firefighters to help battle an out-of-control blaze that has burned more than two square kilometres of forest and cut off a major highway on Vancouver Island.
A vehicle detour route that is serving as a lifeline between eastern and western Vancouver Island amid a raging wildfire will be closed for much of the day Friday.
Disturbing new details about a man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting women in Calgary have come to light, as court documents exposing accounts from his alleged victims have been unsealed.
Ukraine's military reported intense fighting with Russian forces on Saturday, while the country's nuclear energy agency said it put the last operating reactor at Europe's largest nuclear power plant into a 'cold shutdown' for safety as Russia's war on Ukraine drags on through its 16th month.
Calgary firefighters scrambled to attack a grass fire that broke out in the southeast, near an Amazon warehouse, between Builders Road and Manitou Road, around 8:30 p.m., Friday evening.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith named her new cabinet Friday, about two weeks after her United Conservative Party took the majority of seats in Alberta.
Three of the province's nine Cree communities are threatened by wildfires, including Waswanipi and Mistissini. But only Oujé-Bougoumou, about 500 kilometres north of Montreal, has been evacuated completely.
The fierce battle to protect Quebec communities from forest fires continues on the ground as the Quebec forest fire fighting society (SOPFEU) reported 123 active forest fires on Saturday morning, nearly half of which were out of control. At last count, more than 13,500 residents remain evacuated, mainly in Chibougamau and Lebel-sur-Quévillon in Northern Quebec.
Fires across the country are burning millions of hectares of land but what does that really look like? CTVNews.ca compared the blazes to some cities and lakes in the country showing just how big they have gotten.
The head of Saskatoon’s chamber of commerce responding with frustration to the city’s announcement of a $75 million deficit over the next two years — and the tax hikes that will likely be needed to help makeup some of the the shortfall.
Nova Scotia says it has identified more details about the records stolen in a file transfer service cyber attack, impacting teachers, students and health care workers' records.
A neighbourhood pool in west London, Ont. may not be able to open this year because the federal funding it depends on every year to hire lifeguards has not come through.
A tenant displaced in the downtown Sudbury fire last month said her hotel is denying her request to move her room to a centralized location following an attempted break-in.
Fires across the country are burning millions of hectares of land but what does that really look like? CTVNews.ca compared the blazes to some cities and lakes in the country showing just how big they have gotten.
Police have shut down a section of Highway 401 westbound between Woodstock and Cambridge after a crash involving a transport truck and an Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) vehicle.
The Waterloo Region Integrated Drug Strategy (WRIDS) is sounding the alarm after a significant number of drug overdose and poisonings were reported over the last few days.
