On Friday, March 09, 2007, downtown stakeholders won a quiet but important courtroom victory against some of our most troublesome forms of lawbreaking. Thanks to the quick thinking action of citizens, patrolling officers were able to apprehend a suspect doing graffiti. The suspect had inflicted several thousand dollars worth of spray paint damage to the Odeon Theatre. This arrest ended a small spree of crimes which included further graffiti damage to Farmer Construction, thefts of liquor, probation violations, and robbery of the Red Hot Video outlet. The matter was aggravated as the paint damage done to the Odeon was of a type that has proved nearly impossible to remove.

As a result of working directly with the DVBA and City Hall's Social Planning Division a coordinated approach was adopted to monitor the suspect through the courts from beginning to end. Victoria Crown Counsel worked to deny the suspect's bail release when he made his first appearance in court in January 2007. Remanded in custody, with a comprehensive psychiatric assessment for 7 weeks, the suspect reappeared in Victoria Provincial Court March 9th. By this time a team from the DVBA, Odeon Theatre, Victoria Police, Emergency Mental Health Team, City of Victoria Downtown Social Planning Coordinator and the "Good-bye" Graffiti Company had assembled to speak directly in Court about their concerns. Detailed victim impact statements were done outlining the effect of graffiti not only in terms of individual business impacts but in terms of the collective impacts graffiti vandalism has on our public and private structures.

The effect of this approach was evident at the March 9th hearing. Crown Counsel refused to accept a plea bargain on any of the outstanding charges which resulted in the suspect deciding to plead guilty on all counts. Crown Counsel further took the time to introduce all of the stakeholders directly to the Judge and then expressed in great detail the effect of this crime spree. Victim impact statements were then read into evidence. At the conclusion of the hearing the Judge took into very serious consideration the effects of the suspect's ongoing anti-social behaviour and the insidious effect of graffiti vandalism on our downtown core. He also thanked our team for their strong representations in open court. The Judge also recognized evidence from a court appointed psychiatrist and directed corrections officials that the suspect's sentence could be served in an appropriate secure mental health facility if and when space became available. The sentencing result was:

• Graffiti Mischief to Odeon Theatre - 1 day in jail in consideration of 7 weeks already spent in custody.
• Graffiti Mischief to Farmer Construction - 2 months in jail consecutive to above sentence.
• Robbery to Red Hot Video - 5 months in jail consecutive to all above sentences.
• Breach of Bail Conditions - 21 days in jail consecutive to all above sentences.
• Theft of liquor - 30 days in consecutive to all above sentences.
• Breach of Probation - 14 days in jail consecutive to all above sentences.
• A further 2 year probation order with 11 strict conditions including banning the suspect from the downtown core, a requirement for him to seek counseling and an absolute ban in possession of paints or markers.

Later Crown Counsel remarked that the consecutive sentencing amounting to a year in jail and two years strict probation was some of the toughest sentencing she has seen for such crimes, particularly in view of the suspect's relatively minor record.

Graffiti damage is a serious crime affecting the viability of our downtown core. The officers of the Victoria PD are determined to build on this victory and bring these crimes under control. With the cooperation of citizens and our downtown partners, as we have seen in this case, we can succeed.

With the experiences of the holiday season fresh in your mind, this article will provide an opportunity of reflecting on the best ways of preventing shoplifting and what your rights and powers are as a civilian with regards to shoplifting (an offence of theft under $5000.).

As a citizen you can arrest any person you find committing a criminal offence. Once a citizen makes an arrest they must turn over the bad guy to the police as soon as possible. Now with that said, we don't advocate that you put yourself in harm's way as some shoplifters may be very unpredictable and we don't want anybody getting hurt.

We strongly suggest that if you have concerns regarding shoplifting that you hire an accredited loss prevention firm to provide a plainclothes store detective to do the dirty work for you.

In addition to hiring seasonal security officers we recommend some of the following measures be considered to help minimize the loss of goods and revenue.

• keep high-end merchandise in a closed and locked cabinet.
• hire extra staff to deal with the higher volume of sales and shoppers.
• position the sales till near the door of your store to prevent the grab and dash shoplifter.
• hire a seasonal door greeter who can double as a security-type person who can "screen" the people coming into your store.
• use very fine, clear fishing line to secure items to the counter or mannequin.
• watch for suspicious activity and be a good observer should you need to describe a suspect to the police.

There are two types of Shoplifters:

Professionals: People who steal for resale and profit, as a lifestyle.
Non-professionals: People who steal from retail stores but are, for the most part, otherwise decent, law-abiding citizens.

For the most part we are dealing with non-professional shoplifters, who use the cover of crowds and the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season to conceal their criminal acts.

We encourage retail store owners and operators to research methods and systems that are available to them to decrease their losses. There are a multitude of resources on the internet that can be tapped into. Using keywords such as "shoplifting", "loss prevention" and "anti-theft retail loss prevention" will take you to a myriad of websites that address the many aspects of loss prevention and assist you in what you can do.

Restorative justice (RJ) is an informal community approach to criminal justice that focuses on repairing the harm caused by crime and holding the offender responsible for their actions in a manner that is outside of the traditional court system. Contrary to traditional judicial proceedings, the RJ process provides community support for victims, offenders, and the community in better understanding why the crime happened and by providing a process for reaching a mutually agreeable resolution proposal between victim and offender. The types of resolutions that can be reached include: the receipt of a written or verbal apology; restitution for damages; community services; and/or offender counselling (i.e. drug, anger management, alcohol). By bringing the victim(s), offender(s) and community together in a 1.5 to 2 hour group conference, the process is designed to mend the harm done in a manner that affords individual/community healing, reparation, victim and offender reintegration into the community, and the prevention of future harm through community support.

Victoria PD currently works in partnership with a local community volunteer restorative justice group, namely Restorative Justice Victoria, to provide the communities of Victoria and Esquimalt with restorative justice options. The type of cases in which RJ may become part of the solution are those where: the investigating officer and victim have chosen not to lay charges; the offence is relatively minor in nature; both the victim and offender agree to participate in the process; the offender(s) accepts responsibility for the offence; the case meets select crime type and public safety criteria; and the offender has little (minor offences) to no previous criminal history. For more information on how to participate in this program and how to make referrals please talk to your local Victoria Police Department investigating officer or contact Penny Joy at Restorative Justice Victoria by calling: (250) 383-5801.