A& - Sunday News, December 21, 1980

Season of ripoffs hits N. Shore

FROM PAGE At

And they warn that not

only will it get worse in the
days ahead but that it will
continue thoughout the holi-
day season into the new
year.

The season prompts pilfer-
ing by petty shplifters and
sees an upsurge in the ongo-
ing problems of break-ins,

largely by juveniles, and
organized shoplifting by
gangs of individuals who

regularly each steal up to
$1,500 in merchandise in a
day.

TRENDS

In North Vancouver the
number of break-ins at this
time of year rises by about 30
per cent. Current trends
show that liquor, jewellery,
camera equipment, silver
and gold articles as well as
cash are primarily what
thieves are after.

Most break-ins in North

Van occur during = mid-
morning and mid-afternoon,
while families are at work.

RCMP crime prevention
officer Corporal Gary Sex-
smith comments: “Our
residential B and Es are
largely by juveniles under
the age of 19. They are short
of money and are not so
afraid of penalties if they are
caught, especially those
under 17, who are dealt with
in juvenile courts.”

Some break-ins can be
traced to children as young
as eight, who are well
organized with a _ profes-
sional fence to dispose of
property they steal. These
youngsters even take liquor,
for selling to older children.

“Most kids on the North
Shore are good kids,” says
Sexsmith. It is maybe 5-10
per cent we have problems
with and three per cent who
are habituals. But that three
per cent is responsible for
65-70 per cent of the B and
Es we get over the year.”

The peak in break-ins con-
tinues into January, he says,
as thieves catch up on their
charge card account
payments. —

He recommends that all
valuables should be marked
and that items such as
jewellery should be kept in
safety deposit boxes. Many
homes need the security of
their door locks and win-
dows upgraded,” he adds.

Thefts from vehicles are
also common this Christmas
season, especially with
presents left on car seats.
Police advise purchases
should be locked in the
trunk. Wrapped presents are
also high on the list of items
being stolen from homes.

SHOPLIFTERS

Car stereos are proving to
be favorite items nipped off
and one gang of thieves hits
one municipality after
another, breaking only into
Mercedes, BMWs and other
quality cars. to © steal

Developers can burn

FROM PAGE At1

to find support for a motion
to ban developers from bur-
ning building site debris and
stumps on building sites.

He said tires were often
used to fuel such
“creating havoc in
residential areas.”

fires,
new

-Gapilano Mall-Hamilton & Marine. N,V:

-Gapilano Mali-Hamilton & Marine, N.V.-Ga

Cnst’s suggestion that a
site be found on the Lower
Mainland to burn © such
materials was met with scorn
by other aldermen.

Alderman Peter Powell
said the Greater Vancouver
Regional Distnct was having
enough problems getting md
of household waste.

apilano Mull-Hemulton & Marine, N.V.>

Alderman John Lakes said
he did not like Cnst’s im-
plication that special burn-
ing permits were only issued
to developers.

Debate arose when coun-
cil changed their fire bylaw
with regard to public
buildings and multi-family
dwetlings to make it consis-
tent with the national code

pilano Mali-Hamilton & Marine, N.V.-Gapilano Mall-Hamilton & Marine, N.V.-

apilano Mall*Hamilion & Marina’ N

Blaupunkt stereos because
of the high prices they fetch.
As well as break-ins, West
Vancouver also has a con-
siderabte problem -with
shiplifting, especially from
Park Royal stores, which is
thought to be due to the ac-
cessibility to the bridge
crossing from Vancouver.
“Traditionally around
Christmas we have an in-
crease in the number of
house’ break-ins and
shoplifters,” says Staff
Sergeant Jack Ross, adding

that the number of break-in

occcurrences is currently
running at about double the
rate of other periods during
the year.

Organized — shoplifting
gangs are becoming a pro-
blem well known to stores
and police in West Van-
couver.

Groups of six or eight peo
ple operate under the
organization of a manager
who arranges their daily
schedule, rotating them in
different areas with targets
of merchandise values of
$500-$1 ,500 a day.

“They are not usually your
Granville types,” a West
Van police spokesman com-
ments. All of them are ex-
tremely well dressed. They
are turning in property to
these managers who fence it
and have a whole clientelle
of customers, especially at
this time of year.”

Drug addicts are often in-
volved, many requiring up-
wards of $500 a day to sup-
port their habit. Police ex-
penenced one instance of a

. refund,

apilano Mali-Hamilton & Marine, N.V..-

WE ARE OPEN:
Monday Dec. 22 and
Tuesday Dec. 23 till 9 pm

Christmas Eve till 5:30 pm

Apilang Mall-Hamillon & Marine; N.Vi«

20-year-old girl using 15 cap-
sules of heroin a day at $50
each, who used three dif-
ferent names, backed up by
stolen IDs, who collected
welfare in all three names
and had criminal records in
two names. She was charged
with 69 criminal offences
and was sentenced to 90 days

in jail, to be served at
weekends.
Another racket which

stores suffer from is goods
being stolen and then return-
ed for refund. As_ stores
tighten their security,
thieves are becoming more
sophisticated, sometimes
buying an item with a credit
card, then stealing an iden-
tical item and returning it for
using the credit
receipt as proof of purchase.

Stores are reluctant to
give any indication of the
size of the shoplifting pro-
blem.

PEAK TIME

Head of security at the
Park Royal Eaton’s store,
Barbara Byjornsen_ says:
“There is shoplifting all year
round but at Christmas when
there are more people in the
store there is more of it go-
ing on.

“Professionals don't work
by themselves. They come
into the store in twos and
threes and they are the
hardest to catch. One of
them will tie up the clerks

while the other does the
shophftung.
“We have managed to

catch them as well as the

Saturday Dec. 27
9:30 am - 5:30 pm

apiiano Mall-Hamilton & Marine: NV.

regular shoplifters, although
it is difficult to apprehend
the whole group.”

All in all, the thieves make
sure they have a very merry.
Christmas — and every time
it's at the expense of the
honest majority, who pay
either by losing their own
possessions or at the store
checkout.

As manager of Wood-
wards at Park Royal, John
Carpenter, says: “Controll-
ing shoplifting costs a certain
amount of dollars every year
— and the consumer pays
for it, for sure.”

Old Saint Nicholas is
popping out to send
holiday greetings to

everyone all) our
fiends and neigh-
bors! Merry Christmas!

apilano Mall-Hamilton & Marine, N.V.-Gapilano.

Merry Christmas

from