Business owners in Victoria’s trendy LoJo district are considering hiring their own security firm due to a rise in shoplifting and the inability of police to respond in a timely way, the Downtown Victoria Business Association says.
Jeff Bray, the association’s executive director, said merchants on Lower Johnson Street have become increasingly concerned by the “brazen” nature of the thieves and the potential safety risks for their employees.
“They are exploring hiring a security company for the daytime, to be on the block,” he said. “Certainly, this has become a major concern.”
Bray said the association has been helping LoJo businesses arrange a meeting to discuss the issue, but he stressed that the problem exists in other downtown neighbourhoods as well.
“We’ve heard from lots of our members about a significant increase in theft and shoplifting that’s occurring and the brazen nature of it — the sense that there’s no police, there’s no enforcement, they’re just walking in and taking stuff and walking out and not too concerned,” he said.
“The comment that I’ve increasingly been hearing from our members is that ‘we’re on our own out here.’ And that’s very troubling.”
Former Victoria councillor Shellie Gudgeon, who owns the Il Terrazzo restaurant on Lower Johnson, said her business has had its own security for years, but now others in the neighbourhood are seeking similar protections.
She said many of the people in the smaller shops work alone and are worried about their safety in the face of increased shoplifting and intimidation.
“So we thought by us all contributing to a private security firm, it would bring a sense of safety back to the street.”
She said it’s frustrating, however, for merchants to consider paying for security in addition to property taxes that are supposed to cover policing.
“It’s another aspect of downloading to the small business owner, where now we have to hire private security,” she said. “In a small town like Victoria, it’s kind of tragic.”
Victoria Police Chief Del Manak was unavailable for an interview Wednesday. But he has made the case to Victoria and Esquimalt councils that his department lacks the staff and resources to police the downtown core.
He was denied staffing increases to his budget in 2018 and 2019, although the provincial government overturned one of those decisions and is reviewing another.
Meanwhile, Manak has moved to bolster the frontlines by shutting down the school liaison officer program and disbanding a nine-member crime-reduction unit, which focused on preventing crime by targeting prolific offenders.
Bray said his association has a good relationship with the police department, “but the reality is they don’t have the resources to deal with this.
“We’ve identified this now for two years that we need increased police presence and resources downtown. We need the crime-prevention unit re-established. Those are the groups that helped to prevent these crimes in the first place.”
Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe, who has supported more resources for police, said she’s encouraged that her colleagues on council seem inclined to approve Manak’s budget request this year, which will add four special municipal constables in 2020 as a way to ease the workload for regular officers.
But she said it will take more than increased policing.
“If it were one simple answer, we would have solved the issue a long time ago,” she said.
“So I think it’s continuing to work on more housing, more supports for people with mental illness and addictions. Whether it’s bylaw and policing and support for our social agencies, those are all pieces of the puzzle.”
Thornton-Joe said it’s important to remember that the business owners on Lower Johnson and in other neighbourhoods need support as well.
“They’re just trying to make ends meet, too, and they have to protect their employees,” she said.
“Unfortunately, there are times when businesses have to close down because they don’t have that support.”
