By Jim Mauro
THUNDER BAY – OPINION – I found myself in a store in the intercity area when I noticed a woman just grabbing items from one of the shelves. The clerk said, “the cashier would be happy to help”. The woman simply ignored him and walked out the door. I was going to assist but realized no employee was going to stop her. It is the “grab and carry” policy that is rampant in society today.
I posted this incident on Facebook, and the comments were non-stop. A few believed I was advocating for store employees to intervene and risk getting hurt over property, something I was not suggesting. I was merely surprised at how blatant this was, and I did not think there would be much danger from this 4’9” woman in her 60’s. But store policy is “do not touch”, much like the policy the liquor stores have been following for years.
A close friend of mine spent some time a couple of years back, using his police experience at one of our local big box stores. He was recommending changes to the exit doors, the self serve process and enhanced security for their more expensive items. The store put locks on a few items, but it is still very easy to take what you want.
Thieves simply walk out the door and proceed to their pre-arranged sales locations to sell them to the buyer or middleman and take their cut of the proceeds. Some of these “misunderstood” members of our society, even have shopping lists. Entrepreneurship at its finest. This grab and go policy is a popular method at liquor stores as well.
I do not blame any of the employees or security personnel working at the liquor stores. The blame lies at the feet of the provincial government. They had plans for a pilot project based on the Manitoba method but turned into cowards and cancelled the program when the cries of racism began. What is racist about theft and making the store itself safer for staff and customers.
In Winnipeg, you must show ID before you enter the store. Period. No ID, no entry. They know who is coming in, who pays and who doesn’t. The record of your entry is wiped from the system within 3 days and is only used for this purpose. It has dramatically reduced theft while increasing both customer and staff safety. So how is a policy that enhances security/safety for staff, and reduces theft be racist, unless some individuals believe that only one race is causing the thefts. That is absurd.
You cannot buy any alcohol at the Superstore without showing ID, so why in the world is this a problem for our government-controlled centres? Why would any government cave to this nonsensical argument?
We don’t need the army for the theft of a chocolate bar, but what is the threshold before we decide to do something. Are thefts that exceed a thousand dollars worthy of intervention? Are hundreds of dollars in stolen meat by one individual acceptable?
When theft used to be an issue, stores would have floor walkers who would apprehend those stealing, police would attend and either take the person to jail if necessary or release them with an order to attend court. But our alleged justice system, did nothing to deter these crimes by giving repeat offenders less than a slap on the wrist. It has not gotten better.
I was advised recently of one absurd case where a woman was facing 57 charges, most of them involving theft. The usual arguments were presented of why this person should be given another chance, so the head crown attorney withdrew all the charges. I am sure the businesses involved were fine absorbing the losses. It is likely their fault this woman had to steal in the first place. (sarcasm intended).
Some want to shrug this off as a minor cost to business, but they are not the only targets. Mom and pop stores are also victims, and those thefts could mean the difference between making any money that day or working 12 hours and suffering a financial loss. Why is it up to them to support the criminals in our city?
Have you noticed that many of these new “alcohol sales locations” have their alcohol locked to prevent the thefts that were taking place. One owner said his thefts have been reduced to zero. What should society do about this? First let’s correct some of the misinformation made by people that commented on my Facebook post.
Any employee who sees a theft take place has the legal authority to stop that theft. I am not speaking about store policy, nor suggesting that every employee take this action, I am merely speaking about the law. Citizens have the right to make an arrest BUT THE SPECIFICS OF WHEN THAT CAN HAPPEN are clear and do not need to be spelled out here. We do not need people taking this action on their own.
I am not a WSIB expert, but I am sure that if you are hurt trying to prevent a crime where you work, you would be covered under WSIB. You may be fired by your employer for not following company policy but that is a different issue. The police are not sitting on this issue, compiling evidence against people to meet some target in value before they act as some suggested. Finally, and more importantly for me, if any person uses force to attempt to get away from being apprehended for theft, it is a robbery (theft with violence) and the penalty for robbery on the books is years. Of course, it would probably have to be a robbery from a judge’s house before someone would get a jail sentence.
Day to day theft is hardly on the police radar and some of you should be asking why. Let’s look at that.
As I have said in other articles and will keep repeating until someone gives a damn, having 10, 11 officers on the road to respond to emergency calls city wide, is often a luxury. To suggest that these officers have any time to deal with these thefts, even if stores wanted to, is not feasible. They have trouble responding to calls of violence. It seems few care about that.
Have someone break into your home at 2 am and then decide if you want enough officers on the road to attend. Information was passed to me that a homeowner recently called police about someone in their home. I am not sure the police ever responded. Fortunately, a family member was able to respond.
Returning to our theft problem, it seems logical that businesses see the cost of staff arresting these people, waiting for police, attending court, only to see nothing be done as just a colossal waste of time. It is you and I, through increased prices that pay the cost. Would businesses appreciate having a justice system that serves their interests instead of appearing it exists to serve the interests of those who committed the crimes?
We can debate the societal causes for some of this all day but unless people acknowledge that these reasons are not mine, yours or the businesses’ fault, then we are wasting our time. If the reason for the theft is addiction, nothing you or I or the store did, caused this problem. If the problem is one of basic hunger, again, the cause of this is not ours to bear, but it is the governments. I am not speaking about a moral obligation to assist with these issues, just where the responsibility should lay.
Speaking strictly about substance abuse challenges, should our city, be forced to bear the brunt of these issues because the number of people fighting this problem exceeds the government funding model to treat it? Should Thunder Bay be paying for housing people, when it is the provincial and federal governments job to solve that problem?
Because if you believe Thunder Bay should be paying this cost, then I would ask this: where are the demands for the city to fund extra beds at our hospital due to the regional population it deals with? Where are the demands to pay for more operating time, or more medical equipment paid for by our local tax base? Where are the demands for the city to fund additional substance abuse treatment beds, or to twin the Harbour Expressway to 11-17. Why is the city not spending our tax dollars on those items?
All of you know the answer. It is because these areas of responsibility belong to higher levels of government. Again, the fault for these issues does not lie at our doorstep, again even though there may be a moral obligation. If much of this theft is caused by issues beyond our control, why are we forced to bear the damage they cause?
Returning to the liquor store. If I gather 20 people to attend the liquor store and we all grab 10 bottles each and walk out, is that okay? If I walk into Metro and grab $300 dollars worth of meat, should the store simply allow me to walk out? Sounds like a great deal. I am looking for a new TV. Perhaps the Power Centre will allow me to leave the store with an 85” high-definition TV tomorrow? I am sure they won’t mind.
Is it not possible that more people will simply take the position that “if the store doesn’t care about theft, why should I pay at all”. But if I am wrong, and this is not a serious problem, then why is it a crime at all? If the courts do not care about this crime, then why should anyone else? How about we all just attend our favourite store and grab whatever we want.
In the lead up to the last municipal election, I proposed the hiring of special constables, to do some of the work that kept officers tied up and unable to respond to emergency calls for service. It took over two years, but the police service is now using special constables to deal with the problems at city run housing complexes, in my view, a more dangerous issue than my suggestion. But it is a start which leads me to my next suggestion.
Hire special constables to deal with the huge amount of theft taking place. Seek out the cooperation of the stores, liaison with the crowns office to prosecute these cases, and meet with the judiciary and request they start treating these crimes more seriously. Otherwise in my view, the problem will simply get worse.
Currently there are officers attempting to deal with some of these problems in the intercity area, but they have other duties as well and simply cannot be there full time. Having a unit specifically in the area only moments away, clearly visible will itself deter some of these thefts. Repeated arrests will also have the same effect.
I am not looking to hang someone for theft. I am not looking that they be jailed for taking food to feed a hungry child. If you are stealing to feed a hungry child, then let’s get those people the help they need. There are programs to help. But ignoring the bully on the playground does not make the bully stop. Ignoring this crime problem does not make it go away.
Here is my suggestion to those who do not view this as an issue or to those in our legal system who just shrug it off. Attend your local grocery store and purchase $500 worth of meet. Go outside the store and hold up a sign that says free for the taking. Businesses don’t lose money and you can support this issue directly. Or go buy some power tools. There will be lots of customers around when you are passing them out for free.
Wait, here is a better idea still; allow someone to come into your home and help themselves to whatever they want. Post a list of the items you have on your front door, so the “shoppers” know what is available. Because this is basically what we are telling business to do. Open your doors and allow for this grab and carry policy and society, will do nothing to prevent your losses. Why should your stuff be more important than the property owned by a business?
But if you care about crime, and with our upcoming November city election, demand a commitment from those seeking your vote to do something about this. And please, do not, and I repeat, do not accept the tired old line from past Council’s that they cannot impact this issue. They most certainly can, they most certainly should and maybe at some point, they can actually do something concrete about it. Just a thought.
