Calgary councillors push new plan to tackle shoplifting, petty theft

A pair of Calgary city councillors want to take a bite out of the city’s growing shoplifting problem with a crackdown on the theft of low-value items.

Last August, security footage from Express Mart Convenience and Grocery in downtown Calgary captured a thief sprinting out of the shop with bags of candy in broad daylight. He even ran past a police cruiser parked outside.

For owner Zain Khalid, scenes like this are nothing new. He says petty theft has cost his business thousands of dollars, and the encounters can be dangerous.

“I’ve seen guns, I’ve seen knives, I have had broken ribs, I’ve been pepper sprayed twice… They don’t even try to hide their face anymore because it doesn’t really matter,” Khalid said.

On Tuesday, a notice of motion from councillors Andre Chabot and Jennifer Wyness heads to the city’s executive committee. They propose creating a new bylaw offence for shoplifting under $100, with potential penalties including a $250 fine or community service.

Chabot argues the move could ease pressure on police, who are stretched thin and rarely able to pursue low-value thefts.

“We want to do some investigative work to see what it is that is actually in our authority to do,” Chabot said. “Hopefully we can do something with our by-law officers that wouldn’t take away from the police resources.”

But not everyone is convinced the plan will work.

Doug King, a justice studies professor at Mount Royal University, says most shoplifters go undetected, and shifting responsibility to bylaw officers may not change that.

“Most of the items that are stolen by shoplifters, the perpetrator is never found again,” King said. “You are going to need a lot more by-law officers to do that.”

Khalid has already invested heavily in protecting his store, about $25,000 on cameras, sensors, panic buttons, window bars, and soon, metal shutters. Those upgrades have helped reduce theft dramatically, from as many as five incidents a day to one or two a week.

Still, he believes consequences matter.

“If there are consequences, if there are actually follow-ups, if there is actually more law and order, I think people would be more afraid to commit these things,” he said.

If the motion passes the Tuesday executive committee, it will head to a full council vote at the end of the month.