Prince George RCMP's downtown safety unit arrested 20 people over five days last week during a crackdown at Pine Centre Mall.
Dubbed the Boost and Bust project, four members were deployed to the mall - two dressed in cover uniforms patrolled inside the mall and two in plain clothes working the outside.
In all, the effort yielded 18 arrests for shoplifting.
Two prolific offenders were also charged and sentenced, in part, for breaching their release conditions. Elliott Joseph, 36, was sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to shoplifting and breaching probation and Tyler Sinclair, 34, was sentenced to 28 days after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a peace officer, uttering threats, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer and breaching probation.
A third, Aaron Glover, 35, has been charged with breaching probation as well as shoplifting. He has since been release on bail pending a future court date.
Police also issued one 90-day Integrated Roadside Prohibition (IRP), which comes with a 30-day vehicle impoundment and two of the arrestees were referred to the restorative justice program
“The Boost and Bust project was a great success and we look forward to launching this program with other businesses in Prince George," said Cst. Amrit Dhadwal. "The downtown safety unit is committed to helping reduce the rate of shoplifting in our community.”
