A few days after new, tougher security measures for liquor stores were announced, a local psychologist says the new measures are a response to a situation similar to a “slow-moving” riot.
Officers were spotted in the Liquor Mart in Osborne Village Friday, one standing guard at the entrance, and another inside the store.
People outside the store Saturday had mixed reaction to the possible presence of officers every time they shop for alcohol.
“I think it’s about time, it makes me feel safer and I’m sure the people inside, the workers and the people inside feel safer with a cop there,” said Isabel Tremblay.
Another said she was startled by the police presence.
“I understand why they may be there but it’s weird, you know, having someone there with a gun,” said Francis Beaulieu.
The crown corporation announced Thursday a new mobile team of trained loss prevention officers will work with existing security teams. They’ll be stationed at Liquor Marts during peak periods, or at stores that have experienced a spike in thefts.
Members of this new team will be be able to make citizen’s arrests and turn suspects over to police.
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Liquor Marts will continue periodic use of special duty constables from the Winnipeg Police Service, saying their presence at some Liquor Mart stores earlier this year acted as a visible deterrent, as well as making staff feel more comfortable.
“Individuals who take alcohol products without paying have become increasingly brazen and unpredictable when confronted, and the measures we’re taking address this shift,” said Liquor and Lotteries CEO Peter Hak.
In many cases, thieves simply walk in, take liquor bottles off the shelves and walk out.
Police chief Danny Smyth said earlier this week that he hasn’t “seen social norms totally disregarded like this in a long time.”
Local psychologist Syras Derksen told 680 CJOB called the whole effect “terribly interesting” and compared the string of constant thefts to a riot, albeit one happening slowly.
“It’s almost like a slow-moving train wreck, where you’re seeing what might happen in a riot happen in a slow, kind of incremental way rather than in that explosion that you may normally see,” he said of the increase in brazen booze thefts.
“What we’re missing here is a triggering event,” he said.
“I don’t know what the triggering event is other than the fact that maybe your friend got away with it or you saw that somebody got away with it, or you learn that the liquor mart has this policy.”
Derksen said those who participate in riots generally tend to be marginalized people who feel powerless, and said the same thing is happening with the liquor thefts.
The difference, he said, is likely the increased communication and awareness around Liquor Mart theft policies.
“All of a sudden everybody knows about these policies while in the past, maybe they weren’t as obvious.
“But it is still a group of people in a society that is suffering in some way that are engaging in this at an increased level because of some perceived opportunity.”
Meth may also be a triggering factor, said Derksen, as some may be stealing the liquor to sell or trade it for methamphetamines.
MBLL’s head of security Wayne Harrison said they will know if the improvements made to their security plan are working by measuring whether they are having more or less merchandise being stolen.
RELATED: Frustrated Manitoba Liquor Mart customer recounts brazen theft
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