RCMP RESPONSE TO COMPLAINT

Last week, a business owner from downtown Prince George went to social media to complain about the lack of response from the police following an incident involving a shoplifter in her retail store. This is the Prince George RCMP’s response.

Social media posts are rarely the full story and often contain opinions and emotions, and may lack facts. After reviewing audio recordings, time stamped documents and speaking with personnel, the Prince George RCMP would like to provide details of the situation.

At 2:50 PM on Tuesday October 22nd, 2019, the North District RCMP’s Operational Communications Centre received a call advising of a shoplifting incident that had just occurred. The caller identified herself as a customer of a retail business on 4th Avenue and stated that the owner of the business just ran out the door chasing after a shoplifter.

The police operator remained on line to try to gain more information about the location and what took place, so that police could be dispatched. While this was occurring, the owner of the business returned and was advised by the customer that the police wanted to speak to her about the incident that had just occurred. The owner advised the customer that she did not want to speak to the police. With no cooperation from the victim, details of the event, description of the suspect or specific location, officers were not dispatched.

A short time later, the Operational Communications Centre received a second call about the incident. Another member of the public called to report that they had witnessed the incident. Their information and details about what they witnessed was obtained. The operator conducted an internet search to locate the address and phone number of the business. The operator called the business and spoke to the owner. She was very upset and once again advised that she did not want police to assist. The operator continued to speak to the victim and eventually convinced her to cooperate and speak with an officer. A police file was created at 3:04 PM, 14 minutes after the first call to police. The victim provided a description of the suspect which was sent to all police officers at that time. The suspect is described as:

• First Nations female

• Approximately 20 years old

• Long dark hair with blonde streaks

• 170 cm (5’7”)

• Slender build

• Wearing a grey knee length puffy jacket with a red purse

Due to the delay, this incident was no longer in progress and other files were given priority. When workload allowed, an officer attended the business to obtain a statement from the owner at 6:18 PM.

From 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM that afternoon, Prince George RCMP received 13 calls for service including this incident. There were 34 calls between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM.

The Prince George RCMP want to warn the public about taking action when a crime occurs. Calling 9-1-1 as soon as it is safe to do so and providing details of the incident including a suspect’s description, is the best course of action, the one most likely to result in an arrest, and is the safest.

The Prince George RCMP are responsible for policing hundreds of businesses and over 20,000 residences in the City of Prince George. The police need information from victims and witnesses in order to legally make an arrest of a suspect. We need the public’s cooperation and timely reporting to be most effective with the resources we have. Twenty-four hours a day our officers do their best to keep the people of this community, and surrounding communities safe. Those officers respond to an average of 117 calls for service per day.

Another member of the public called to report that they had witnessed the incident.