Understanding the Walmart De-masking

Campbell River

2022-02-07 08:29 PST

File # 2022-1364

Understanding the Walmart De-masking

By now, it's unlikely that anyone in the community of Campbell River or anyone with an internet connection has not seen the video of a valiant senior de-masking a would be thief at the Walmart in Campbell river on January 29th, 2022.

(Open source photo still: Senior De-masking would be thief)

The civic minded individual should be commended for their bravery and initiative, and it definitely shows the level of frustration that people in the community have in relation to property crime, said Cst Maury Tyre. However, we as the police, cannot in good conscience recommend that people take matters into their own hands in events such as these, because of the inherent risks associated with physically stopping someone. As well as the obvious physical risks, there could be civil or criminal risks if the person who takes action is wrong.

Typically an immediate call to police is the best course of action and a notification to the store management so that video evidence can be saved for the event. As the victim of the crime, the store will also be needed to take part in the police investigation.

Regarding shoplifting, there are various components of a case that typically have to be met before action can be taken against an individual and the average citizen may not be entirely aware what those conditions are. Many of the pieces of evidence would actually have to be provided by the store/victim themselves and if they can’t be produced, legal action against the person may not be possible.

For store proprietors and staff the following are very important:

• If items are recovered, and you wish to have someone charged, set the items aside and do not restock them (They are evidence and need to be itemized and photographed)
• Ensure multiple people are trained and have access to the surveillance system (this allows for immediate access to surveillance for identification. The longer it takes to get surveillance the less likelihood of identification)
• Keep an eye on what and who comes into your store (Yes masks are a must right now, but there's a difference between masked up and doing everything you can to obscure your identity. If the only thing visible is someone's eyeballs and they have a backpack and big bulky coats, they may have a plan to steal. Setting "no backpack" rules for your store may be worthwhile.)   

The De-masking of the would be thief at Walmart in Campbell River on January 29th, 2022 is currently under investigation and RCMP are asking that anyone with first hand witness knowledge in regards to the incident that have not already talked to an investigator contact the Campbell River RCMP at 250-286-6221.  

Released by

Cst. Maury Tyre

Email: maury.tyre@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

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