Rising crime rates have rattled Vancouver retailers, especially those downtown, prompting many to close or move.
The situation is bad enough that the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) invited about 200 retail professionals to a forum this morning at Robson Square. Its aim was improve communication, explain police initiatives and encourage retailers to report crimes.
Police data show an 11.7 per cent jump in reported shoplifting incidents city-wide, to 7,686 in 2024. That is likely only a small sliver of the total number of incidents where retailers have caught shoplifters, according to police.
One retailer, which operates two stores in the downtown peninsula, claims to have had 7,800 incidents in those two stores in a one-year period, Inspector Marco Veronesi said in a speech this morning.
"Of those incidents, they reported 1,060 of them to the police," he said. "We're talking 6,000 unreported incidents that I don't know about as a commander. So that highlights the importance of reporting."
The VPD has updated its non-emergency online-reporting process so retailers can report more incidents via the Internet, without needing to use the phone. A previous process was that when the retailer knew of a specific alleged suspect, the retailer was told to phone in the report. The VPD's non-emergency phone line is notorious for keeping people on hold for what can be hours, thereby deterring calls.
Last fall, London Drugs' general manager of loss prevention, Tony Hunt, estimated to BIV that retailers likely only report about 15 per cent of theft incidents to the police, "in some cases not wanting to burden police, or simply [because of] a lack of confidence in the justice system.”
London Drugs has been public that it is considering closing its store in the Woodwards development in the Downtown Eastside due to rampant crime and violent incidents that have targeted staff. Hunt told BIV this morning no decision has yet been made but "it is a possibility" that the store will close. The lease for the money-losing store expires in October.
He added that while the crime situation in Vancouver remains challenging, he believes the police are doing a good job.
"The work being done by the VPD, particularly on retail crime and organized retail crime, is, at this point, leading the nation," said Hunt, whose general-merchandising retail chain has stores across Western Canada.
"They're participating in a national work group with retailers across the country, where 23 other police agencies have joined in and are learning from the work that's been done by the VPD."
Some good news is that rates for some crimes in Vancouver are on the decline.
Data for break-and-enters to homes, businesses and cars show significant decreases in 2024, compared with 2023.
Downtown Vancouver remains the epicentre for retail crime. VPD senior analyst Arezo Zarrabian today showed data for retail crime across the city during a 30-day period.
The VPD's incident count by area included:
Downtown Vancouver with 270;
Mt. Pleasant with 53;
Grandview Highway, with 51;
Chinatown and near the downtown Eastside with 42; and
Fairview in the Broadway corridor with 27.
Police projects target crime
One of the better known initiatives that the VPD has to combat retail crime is what it calls Project Barcode, which launched in 2022.
That initiative has seen police partner with 193 retailers throughout the city to target violent and chronic thieves. The projects have resulted in more than 1,578 arrests and recovery of $501,000 in stolen merchandise, according to data the VPD shared today.
The VPD completed its seventh Project Barcode blitz last week. The Project Barcode operations tend to be two-week initiatives of intense work.
Separate from Project Barcode is what the VPD calls Project Antidote, which launched last year specifically for the downtown core. The 13-day operation netted 27 arrests and about $13,000 in stolen property, which works out to $1,000 a day.
Veronesi called the initiative "successful," which is why a second iteration is being done right now.
"Antidote 2, which is running right now, is based on Antidote 1," he said. "We tried to narrow down the sweet spot of when crime was actually happening. So with Antidote 2, now we're using a few less resources, but we're using it more based on analytics, and we're trying to focus on the high target times and deploying resources during that time, working again with our retailers that will work with us. So far, it's going pretty well."
One frequent critique from retailers is that offenders get released soon after they are arrested and court penalties are weak.
Veronesi explained to BIV after today's event that Antidote 2 is a collaborative approach between a VPD detective, police officers in plain clothes and in uniform, retailers and a Crown representative.
The Crown representative is important to ensure that there is follow-through, so charges can stick.
Project Lemming is another VPD initiative related to stolen retail goods, but it focuses more on catching those who fence goods.
