Property crime plaguing businesses
FSJ Council to organise Town Hall meeting to address the issue
Despite improved security, including cameras, alarms and patrols, frequent break-ins, vandalism, and threats to personal safety are plaguing Fort St. John’s businesses. It’s not just in the downtown core. Throughout the city, business owners are frustrated by these crimes, and by the RCMP’s inability to stem the tide.
“We’re not pointing fingers at the RCMP,” Rui Miranda, told City Council this week. “I believe they’re doing their jobs to the best of their ability, within the means that they’re allowed to.”
Miranda, owner of D Bauer Mechanical, was one of several member of a delegation of business owners who attended Monday’s Council meeting, to ask the City for help in addressing the increasing number of property crimes. In their presentation, Miranda, Tyler Soule and Buck Bruvold read letters from other businesses in the community, all expressing similar concerns.
“My own business of 25 years has been broken into 17 times in 25 years – 11 of the 17 were in the last 12 months,” Miranda said. “In the past year, we’ve spent over $70,000 in fencing and security upgrades, and have lost approximately $60,000 worth of equipment and inventory.”
Peace Country Rentals owner, Tyler Soule, said that in the last two years, he has seen theft double in both frequency and value. “We have cameras, we have security patrols, and now we’re going to spend $50,000 on GPS devices.”
“The City is spending money on a new downtown core, and a new police station, which is a good thing. But if our businesses can’t stay safe, it’s all moot,” Soule added.
It’s not just theft that is the issue. Staff at businesses around the city feel unsafe. People hanging around businesses at all hours, leaving needles, bottles, and human waste in the thoroughfares, as well as harassing staff in their workplaces, have all contributed to a feeling of unease and fear. Staff at Prevail Athletics have been harassed by men with hockey sticks, No Frills has had to keep their bathrooms locked due to drug use and hire security guards to watch the doors, said Buck Bruvold, who is a part owner in several Fort St. John businesses.
In his letter to Council, Dr. Herriot of the North Peace Optometry Clinic, said that not only has his business suffered attempted break-ins in December 2022, but a tenant in the upstairs offices had to lock herself in her office and call the police to rescue her from a man who was upset and refusing to leave the building.
“We have taken measures to protect out staff and our business, like security cameras, increased lighting, secure locks, and alarm systems. Seeing other businesses broken into is disheartening. It it challenging to be an entrepreneur and being a victim of a crime is a major setback,” Herriot said in his letter. “For myself, feelings of fear and uncertainty will discourage my passion for growth and developing new business opportunities.”
All of the business owners who presented to Council on Monday said they want to see our city succeed and prosper, and they want people to be able to patron their businesses safely. This benefits everyone in the community, but businesses need the City’s help to find a workable solution.
Councillor Trevor Bolin suggested that the City meet with business owners, in a town hall-style meeting, and try to come up with some solutions.
“We all want the same thing. All of our businesses are being broken into,” Bolin said. “I think that together we can come up with something, find solutions together.”
In Dawson Creek, Miranda told Council, concerned citizens lobbied the City to pressure the Provincial government to readdress the catch and release program for offenders in BC. They have received multiple responses from Attorney General Nikki Sharma.
However, Councillor Tony Zabinsky said that he didn’t the responses from the Attorney General “had any teeth. We need something that has teeth – there’s a bigger underlying problem here that we need to address.”
“I agree with lobbying the Provincial government to have them readdress the catch and release program,” said Councillor Sarah MacDougall. “Because it’s clearly not working.”
“We will need to talk to the RCMP to see how we can use our resources differently to address the needs of our community,” MacDougall said. “We need to see what we can do to make this a safer community, because it’s in all of our best interests to have a safe and prosperous community.”
There needs to be some kind of presence in the community, added Councillor Gord Klassen. A police presence isn’t always the answer, he said because the system is broken. “The police can be there, pick somebody up, but half an hour later they’re back on the streets. That’s a system problem, and we need to fix some of those bigger things.”
Council plans to organise a town hall style meeting for business owners in Fort St. John in the very near future, to discuss and find ways to protect local businesses from these disturbing increases in crime.