A pilot program in which police collaborate with shopping mall loss prevention officers (LPO) to deal with shoplifters has been extended to Divisions 32 and 33 in North York, areas of the City best-known as Willowdale and Don Mills. It has operated for about a year in the heavily commercialized downtown Divisions 51 and 52. The pilot involves trained LPO giving and getting information to/from the local division by phone about how to deal with adult shoplifters based on the nature of the crime. Circumstances may require the police to attend and make an arrest or see the shoplifter released with a warning. Ron Fanfair, Toronto Police website
Richmond Hill cigarette thief
York Region Police are seeking this man for two gas station convenience store robberies of cigarettes over last weekend. He struck Saturday and Sunday in Richmond Hill loading his gym bag with cigarettes. On the second occasion, the clerk sustained minor knife injuries.
