MOOSE JAW - Moose Jaw police launched a new initiative in July to address the theft of shopping carts from certain businesses, and since then, officers have recovered nearly two dozen push-trolleys.
Police Supt. Taylor Mickleborough told the board of police commissioners during its Aug. 6 meeting that the shopping cart project has produced “some success” since beginning a month ago.
Officers have seized 16 carts, which sounds minor but is impressive since each unit costs $300 and totals $4,800, he continued. Moreover, the agency has returned those four-wheelers to the respective businesses and saved them money.
“So, it’s good to see some early success there,” Mickleborough added.
The police service superintendent credited the agency’s officers for doing a good job of informing certain businesses about the shopping cart project and how they can participate, while he also commended those businesses for agreeing to engage.
“The program is just getting started … so we’re encouraged by the results so far,” Mickleborough said. “And hopefully, we can continue to see an increase in the number of shopping carts that we can get back to the rightful owners and hopefully we see a decrease in the number of shopping carts going missing.”
The superintendent acknowledged that some low-income or homeless residents use the push-trolleys to transport all their goods throughout the city. He noted that taking the carts from those people presents a problem for them, but it’s important to remember that those units belong to a business.
“I’m hoping that there are other means that the folks can obtain to transport their items, but we can’t offload those costs onto local businesses,” he said, adding the Moose Jaw Police Service works with other social agencies and organizations in the community to address the needs of low-income residents.
Police leadership told the police board during the July meeting that the organization had noticed an uptick in abandoned shopping carts throughout the community, whether on streets, in parks, the river or in alleys. After recovering these push-trolleys, officers have found stolen property like copper wire, alcohol, bike parts, bottles, knives, weapons and even garbage.
So, the strategic services unit created a new initiative to deter people from taking the merchandise carriers, with officers speaking with businesses that use shopping carts about the initiative and convincing them to sign a document saying they do not lend or give out their carts for purposes other than shopping.
This eliminates any excuses people may have about why they possess a cart away from the store.
Besides recovering and returning this property to businesses, police can also prevent people from using the devices to transport stolen goods acquired through petty thefts.
