Vancouver striking task force to understand root causes and effects of retail theft
Coun. Brian Montague motion says shoplifting, theft has some businesses headed to ruin
Vancouver city councillors have voted to strike a mayor's task force composed of police, BIAs, merchants, legal experts and social service organizations to come up with solutions to curb shoplifting and retail theft.
The motion brought by Coun. Brian Montague, a former police officer, passed unanimously at the city's Standing Committee on Policy and Strategic Priorities on Wednesday.
"A large number of businesses here in Vancouver don't expect to last the next four years," said Montague. "A lot of that is due to loss from crime, retail theft in Vancouver. It continues to increase."
As the COVID-19 pandemic waned in 2022, police said they saw a more-than-30 per cent increase in shoplifting crimes compared to 2021.
The latest numbers show a 12 per cent citywide increase in shoplifting incidents in 2024 compared to 2023, with a 40 per cent increase in Vancouver's downtown core for that time period.
Retailers, businesses and community groups have provided the narrative to those numbers over the past three years with stories of repetitive crime in their shops and workers facing unsafe conditions.
"Businesses were put at risk and we've had store closures, some other significant companies that are desperately trying to hang on and not close, hoping that something will come along and help," said Jess Ketchum, co-founder of the Save our Street Coalition, which includes retailers such as London Drugs, Lululemon, Aritizia and Save-on-Foods.
The purpose of the task force is to bring together stakeholders to conduct "a thorough assessment of the root causes and effects of retail theft, including but not limited to organized retail crime, social factors, enforcement challenges, and existing legislative and policy frameworks," according to Montague's original motion posted online.
The final amended version put the task force under the mayor's office, similar to Ken Sim's budgetary task force, meaning his office would determine the membership and terms of reference for what's to be called Retail Security Task Force.
The amended motion also struck a section directing staff to explore potential funding partnerships with other levels of government.
That could come after results in six months from the task force forming, outlining its findings and making "evidence-based recommendations for immediate, short-term, and long-term solutions and strategies to reduce retail theft and enhance business security," according to the motion.
Montague told councillors the task force would look to other jurisdictions about "what's working in other cities, what isn't working," and hoped the task force would provide solutions that have so far eluded the city.
In early March, Vancouver police hosted a forum to tackle retail crime, which involved 200 businesses, law enforcement, and public policy leaders from across the country.
Police said at the time that its Project Barcode, which involves officers waiting outside stores while staff watch for known and new shoplifters, had made approximately 1,500 arrests since 2023.
Businesses and both local and provincial governments have said part of the solutions rest with the federal government over bail reform, with drug decriminalization, policing resources and mental-health reform also factors that need to be addressed in concert.
Ketchum said that reform is needed, but did welcome the new task force, in hopes it would be another approach to solving a seemingly entrenched problem that exists across B.C.
"The issues that are here in Vancouver will also apply or relate to Prince George, Victoria, Kamloops," he said. "I'm hopeful that the work that this task force will do will come up with some programs and projects that will apply provincewide."
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