Local businesses speak to council on rise in crime

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Multiple local business owners attended the latest council meeting to speak with Fort St. John city council about their experiences with property crime. 

Six business owners submitted letters to council, which were read to council by local business owners Rui Miranda, Tyler Soule, and Buck Bruvold at the April 24th city council meeting. 

The letters detailed business owners’ experiences with frequent property crimes being perpetrated against their businesses, what steps owners had taken to try and prevent the crimes, and the effects these crimes have had on their businesses and the community. 

In his letter to council, Miranda detailed how only three of the 11 break-ins his business experienced in the past 12 months had case file numbers attached. 

Miranda said if no file numbers existed for the cases, the incidents would not be counted in statistics. 

Owner of North Peace Optometry Clinic, Christopher Herriot, detailed in his letter the lengths he had gone to help keep his business safe from further property crime. 

“My staff have had to be on alert for theft prevention in our store,” Herriot said. 

“We have taken measures to protect our staff and our business, like security cameras, increased lighting, secure locks, and alarm systems.”

Herriot’s letter, among many others, also detailed how this increase in property crime had impacted their businesses and the community. 

Soule stated in his letter to council that he once considered Fort St. John a great place to raise a family, but no longer believes this since the increase in crime. 

“My family has always been proud of this city and promotes it whenever we can. I’ve heard Tony and Jim doing the same thing in different circles, “It is easy to get a good paying job and affordable housing,” but a large portion of the sales pitch is that it is safe for families,” Soule said.

“I am only telling you this back story so you can really understand that my next statement hurts to admit. I don’t even talk about the safety of the city anymore.” 

The business owners asked city council what could be done about the crimes being committed and asked for help in moving forward. 

Council commended the business owners for their efforts and presentation and said the issue would require further communication and cooperation with the community and the RCMP. 

Councillor Tony Zabinsky assured them the issue was not going unnoticed. 

Ultimately, the council suggested a townhall style meeting with local business owners, the city, and the RCMP may be a good first step towards resolving the issues. 

This presentation to council follows Inspector Anthony Hanson’s report on 2022 crime statistics to council, where Hanson said the city was seeing a “return to historical norms.”