Sarnia police launch campaign targeting shopping cart theft

Cleanup in aisle Sarnia.

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City police recently announced they’ve taken the unusual approach of enforcing shopping cart theft.

The carts belong to the stores and people caught taking them could be hit with theft or possession of stolen property charges, said deputy chief Ron Hansen.

Generally people wheeling carts far away from the corrals in retailer parking lots are going to be targeted, he said.

But it’s not a charge-first approach, he said, adding police want to be respectful.

Officers will talk to people first, take their names, hand out pamphlets, talk about the issue and encourage people to return the cart, he said.

Second offenses, police might take the carts, give an official warning, and give people a box instead if they’re using the cart to keep their belongings in, he said.

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Third offenses could mean charges, though there’s some wiggle room for officer discretion, he said.

The aim is not to charge, he said, but to use the carts, as highly visible community eyesores, as a way to strike up conversations with people who might need help.

“If they’re unhoused, we can start to try and get them resources,” he said.

It’s also a way to identify people who might be using shopping carts for other criminal activities, he said.

That could include breaking them down and selling the scrap metal, potentially for drug money, or using the carts for other thefts, Hansen said.

“Like when people are going out in the community and they’re looking to steal things, they can put it in a shopping cart and push it down the road and carry more,” he said.

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He compared the campaign that was announced Dec. 4 to the broken window theory.

“If you deal with the small things that are visible in the community and fix them, then the community has this perception of being safe and secure,” he said, adding that indeed leads to safer communities because it deters crime.

“I think that’s a win for all of us,” he said.

The initiative has received some criticism on social media for focusing on a relatively small issue when more significant crime is happening, he said, adding police are still focused on larger crimes.

But targeting small things can lead police to more significant crimes, he said, noting a recent blitz on retail theft in the city resulted in police arresting shoplifters hired to help fund drug trafficking.

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Drugs are “pretty much the impetus behind most of the crimes that we’re facing,” he said, including thefts.

“So we’re trying to do a multi-pronged approach.”

Police historically generally haven’t enforced shopping cart theft, but taking this approach could help find some efficiencies, since police can’t be everywhere, Hansen said.

There have been no charges laid yet, he said.

So far some carts have been retrieved from Rainbow Park where there’s a homeless encampment, and plans are to get volunteers to collect them from places around the city, Hansen said.

As of Dec. 4, 650 carts had been stolen in 2024 from area retailers, he said, noting costs get passed on to consumers.

Some carts with anti-theft technology embedded can cost hundreds of dollars, he said.

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“It’s not about us trying to help the grocery stores make more money,” he said. “It’s about looking at a community issue.”

Giant Tiger store owner Leo Suglio said he’s happy to see the approach.

His store keeps about 30 carts on hand on any given day and loses thousands of dollars every year replacing and retrieving them, he said.

“I agree with the police coming out and saying taking the shopping carts off of the premises, it is a form of theft,” he said, noting carts at his store in the Northgate Plaza cost about $150 each to replace.

He also pays a local to collect and return carts abandoned in the city, he said, adding he’s heard of carts being stolen for scrap.

Shopping cart theft has been an issue since he opened the franchise 26 years ago, though it’s worsened in the last two, Suglio said.

“Probably two to three times a year. . . I top up my shopping carts,” he said.

“It gets to a point where you just can’t find them anymore.”

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