By Brady Lang

Shoplifting an ongoing issue

Security measures detering shoplifting issue

Feb 13, 2019 | 2:01 PM

Shoplifting continues to be a growing issue in the Battlefords, and it’s not just the retailers seeing the effects of the problem.

Pinnacle Protections is a large security company that offers these services to businesses in the Battlefords, including the Frontier Centre in North Battleford.

Businesses are losing profits to shoplifting, something battlefordsNOW recently examined in a recent article. A local business owner lost $80,000 over a year in direct sales, and that was with increased security measures, changing the layout of the store, and installing pricey security equipment to continue to try and save profits.

In one instance, an employee from Pinnacle Protections said their services were deployed in a business that lost $138,000 in sales in a year. The business hired on their firm, and the overall cost over the next year’s span ended up at approximately $48,000.

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“Even if they break even on it, at least they’ve supported a legitimate business instead of supporting the criminals,” said Steve, a security guard who asked that his last name not be published for the sake of privacy.

“If people could just understand that this is part of keeping the store safe, and part of helping the store to keep the prices down so in the end, that very person’s shopping bill (will be) less,” _{-Steve, security guard}

Bert Revesz is a part-owner of Pinnacle Protections and said he’s seen a lot in his time with the company. The small offences go unnoticed, he said.

“When it seems insignificant to certain people, it’s not insignificant when you look at the big picture,” he said. “It’s a trickle-down effect that causes a real problem in the community.”

Revesz said shoplifting it is a financial burden for business owners and consumers alike, but added security personnel does work. An arrest is made 75 per cent of the time security personnel show up, Revesz said.

Even though security guards are keeping an eye out for shoplifters, Revesz said consumers can help.

“The honest (shoppers) have a responsibility too,” he said. “If they see someone that is stealing stuff, and they don’t say anything about it, they’re allowing someone to take something that belongs to someone else. Ultimately, they pay for it in higher prices.”

Stepping up and being the hero isn’t always the best option, but just looking out for the owners and those around you, making the perpetrator at least feel uncomfortable is a good place to start, the two said.

Sgt. Jason Teniuk, Operations NCO for the Battlefords RCMP, said their statistics back up the fact shoplifting is a growing trend and the detachment plans to roll out a new program targeted at shoplifting in the near future.

Teniuk previously said the issue has reached a point where it is out of the RCMP’s control and up to family, the courts and the community.

“Putting that onus on the police to deal with these generational issues, it’s not going to work. We’re all going to have to play a part in this moving forward in how we’re going to address these issues. The police are going to be a part of that, but the police aren’t the solution,” he said.

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brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangBFN