Ottawa Police pilot project nabs retail thieves at record rate
In two months, police identified repeat offenders and cleared 79% of cases across the city using targeted downtown enforcement.
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Ottawa Police say their Retail Theft Pilot Project is working. After two months, investigators tracked down repeat shoplifters across 40 kilometres of the city, with a clearance rate of 79 per cent — what the force calls "exceptionally high."
The project, launched in April, focused enforcement on the downtown core, where clusters of incidents occur across major malls and shopping plazas. But the ripple effect is city-wide. Police connected cases that started downtown to retail crimes in outer divisions, freeing up investigative resources and speeding up cross-city tracking of repeat thieves.
Investigators handled 279 cases between April 1 and early June. Of those, 221 were cleared with charges. The project touched 30 unique commercial addresses, though 75.6 per cent of the volume came from downtown.
Cory Robertson, Central District Inspector, said the concentration of incidents at high-volume retail locations allows investigators to "identify repeat offenders quickly and connect cases across multiple businesses and areas." The targeted approach benefits independent retailers alongside major chains, he added.
The pilot complements the Adult Pre-Charge Diversion Unit, which redirects people charged with minor offences toward support services rather than the criminal justice system — addressing root causes while holding offenders accountable.