Niagara police lay over 20 charges in retail theft probe

As holiday shopping ramps up, Niagara community response officers say they have laid multiple retail theft arrests in St. Catherine’s through a police initiative. 

Niagara Regional Police Service said they have arrested over 20 suspects, laid 11 criminal charges, issued three provincial offences notices and recovered over $2700 worth of stolen merchandise.

On Nov. 6, six people were arrested – two of those had stolen over $1400 worth of merchandise. 

Law enforcement said they were also wanted by other police services for 17 charges, six of which were for Theft Under $5000. 

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On Oct.9, eight arrests were made – two of those people were from Alberta and had been linked to similar thefts of toys across multiple jurisdictions. 

Officers say the toys were intended for resale and not personal use.

Detectives said their initiative is called ‘3P’ – Past Point of Purchase – and is a collaborative approach with store loss prevention officers where suspected shoplifters are stopped past the point of purchase by police officers.

Police say retail theft calls for service are a large portion of their front-line work.