CBC News: Uptick in robberies concerns Waterloo regional police chief
CBC News – Jan 20, 2022: The new year isn’t even three weeks old, but already, Waterloo region’s police chief says he’s concerned about an uptick in commercial robberies.
There have been 20 robberies so far, up from 12 at this point last year, Chief Bryan Larkin said during a police services board meeting Wednesday.
Among them was a robbery at a jewelry store in Conestoga Mall, where suspects were “armed with axes and sledgehammers,” Larkin said. Another robbery was at a commercial bank in Wellesley Township.
“We don’t often see that,” said Larkin.
There have been six robberies targeting independent pharmacies, including three that police say happened all on the same night. The culprits targeted prescription pills, rather than cash or other products, leading investigators to believe they planned to sell the drugs on the illegal market.
Larkin said police are working on a strategy to deal with the increase in robberies, but also noted that, when it comes to the pharmacy thefts, “the underlying issue there is addiction.”
“As a police service, we still believe that if we can solve housing, if we can address poverty, and if we can address social disparities, then naturally, other challenges of crime will also find better outcomes and better solutions,” he said.
Michael Parkinson, with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, believes the robberies point to a larger issue: that Canadian drug policy hasn’t done a good job of reducing crime, or protecting victims.
“Until Canadians as a society get serious about upstream prevention, about reforming antiquated drug law and policy, [these robberies] will continue to be a feature in the region and far beyond,” he said.
A related concern, both Larkin and Parkinson said, is the increase in overdose deaths during the pandemic.
In 2019, there were 62 suspected overdose deaths in Waterloo region. In 2020, there were 106, and in 2021, there were 99.
Click here to read the article on the CBC News website.