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The B.C. government will soon monitor more than 350 repeat offenders in the Lower Mainland as it launches seven new intervention and monitoring hubs in the region.
The province began its $16-million Chronic Property Offending Intervention initiative on Vancouver Island last month, and on Tuesday announced its rollout to the Lower Mainland.
The initiative expands a program launched in 2023 targeting repeat violent offenders to now include property and public-disorder offences.
“A small percentage of offenders actually commit a significant amount of crimes,” Minister of State for Community Safety Terry Yung said.
The program responds, he said, by assigning dedicated prosecutors, enforcement officers and social service workers to take a “comprehensive approach” to “the most prolific offenders.”
Businesses say retail theft on the rise
B.C. saw nearly 42,000 reported shoplifting incidents last year, 1.5 times the national per capita average, according to Statistics Canada. It was the fifth year in a row the number rose.
Tricia Hill, who owns Stoxx Thrift & Vintage in Vancouver’s Kingsgate Mall, said those numbers are likely low.
She said incidents are so frequent she doesn’t bother calling police.
“It is a waste of time calling. Nothing happens. At all,” she said.
Vancouver city councilors have voted to create a new task force to try to curb shoplifting and retail theft in the city. CBC’s Chad Pawson explains why the city is striking a special task force to deal with people stealing from stores.
Hill estimated her business lost $20,000 from theft last year, and said things are so bad staff now have walkie-talkies connected to security.
“That should let you know how serious it is,” she said. “Everybody in the mall is on the same channel.”
Jason Overbo, who owns Yaletown’s Brooklyn Clothing, said thieves have become increasingly bold.
“Literally people walking in, looking around, grabbing whatever they can, and walking out,” he said.
“They don’t even care who sees them, they are not trying to cover their faces, they are not trying to be sneaky.”
Both Overbo and Hill said the incidents have affected their staff and raised concerns about safety.
‘Low hanging fruit’
The expanded program will see 11 hubs across the Lower Mainland monitoring 365 repeat violent and property offenders, selected according to criminal history and risk of reoffending.
The majority will be in Vancouver, where 160 people will be monitored through four hubs, and Surrey, where 80 people will be monitored through two hubs.
The hubs will house coordinated teams of prosecutors, police, probation officers, correctional supervisors, community integration specialists and mental-health liaisons.
Jess Ketchum, co-founder of the community group Save our Streets, told CBC’s On the Coast it was past time for the province to put resources into targeting repeat property offenders.
B.C.’s new premier David Eby has unveiled a plan to tackle public safety issues, including measures to deal with repeat offenders and to expand mental health and addictions supports.
“I don’t like to call it low-hanging fruit, but the fact of the matter is there is a small number of people committing a huge number of crimes and they are just doing it over and over,” he said.
“If the province can do anything to step in and put a road block in front of that, that could have a significant benefit.”
Along with enforcement, the province says the program will work to address the “underlying factors contributing to offending” through connections to services including housing, income assistance, and mental health and substance use supports.
In total, the province said it is now monitoring 865 repeat offenders across the province.
