[chemgear]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

America seems nice

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-...rise-inflation

The Retail Council of Canada says that on average retail thefts have risen by about 300 per cent since the pandemic began in 2020.

“There is absolutely an increase in (shoplifting) incidents and in volume of goods stolen, that’s the first thing our members consistently tell us,” said Greg Wilson, director of government relations and regulatory affairs for the Retail Council

And more alarmingly, retailers are reporting a huge spike in abusive behaviour toward sales staff and cashiers.

“We’re very concerned about the dramatic increase in violence in retail stores,” Wilson said. “Honestly, just the harassment of frontline retail workers, I don’t think I’ve ever talked to a government official before about concern about retail store workers being harassed.”

Retailers also report a rise in brazenness, such as thieves walking out of stores with shopping carts full of items that weren’t paid for.

“But also we’ve seen people who are repeat offenders and we’ve dealt with the same people 18, 30, 40 times in some cases. It almost seems like the system has no way to properly address people who are in that type of crisis who are hurting other people along the way.”