YORKTON - The attendance was sparse but those attending a Yorkton Chamber of Commerce program Thursday gained some new insights into shoplifting in Yorkton.
Speaker Staff Sgt. Burton Jones said there is definitely significant shoplifting in the city, but that does not make Yorkton unique.
In 2023 property theft offences not including vehicles was 474, he said.
“That’s huge to me. That’s astronomical to me,” said Jones.
Nationally in RCMP policed jurisdictions across Canada in 2022 there were 127,000 offences, and another 150,000 fraud offences which are often shoplifting-related, he added.
The Staff Sgt/ went on to explain that in a case where someone switches price tags on a store item, it is fraud.
Price switching is only one form of shoplifting.
Jones said with self-checkouts they are seeing things like a person scanning a single packet of bacon, but have several.
“That’s fraud,” he said.
Another form of theft is where an employee does not scan items for friends.
Jones said the RCMP’s job to apprehend shoplifters has been made easier with better security camera technology, which now often provides “crystal clear” images of suspected shoplifters.
“It’s significantly changed the way we do policing,” he said.
Jones said business owners must also understand that ultimately it will be their choice whether charges are laid.
If charges are laid someone who saw the theft or has knowledge of it will be required “to testify in court.”
Even with good evidence, Jones said shoplifters don’t always face particularly harsh sentencing.
“What the courts do with shoplifters in not a whole heck of a lot,” he said, adding in most cases it will be probation, and if it goes well restitution for the product stolen. Of course that restitution is not always paid.
If the person is a youth, the rules change too.
Jones said it is mandated they have to go through alternative sentencing, meaning it is often diverted out of court with parameters such as a letter of apology, community service and restitution.
Before it gets to a case of theft, Jones said, staff can do some things to perhaps stop shoplifting. For example, questions such as ‘do you plan to pay for that today?’ or ‘may I help you with the products you have now?’ may discourage a would-be thief.
That said Jones said staff also need to ensure they are safe.
“Do not physically engage the person,” he said.
Instead, call the police.
“That’s 100 per cent why we’re here,” he said.
