St. Catharines – The Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) 1 District (St. Catharines/Thorold) Community Oriented Response and Engagement Unit (C.O.R.E.) has been involved in an initiative to tackle the increasing rise in retail thefts.
The initiative called 3P (Past Point of Purchase) is a collaborative approach with store loss prevention officers in which suspected shoplifters are stopped past the point of purchase by C.O.R.E. officers.
As the holiday retail activity ramps up, C.O.R.E. officers have attended various shopping locations throughout St. Catharines with the aim at catching suspects in the act of stealing from retailers. Over the last month alone, this initiative resulted in 20 people being arrested, 11 criminal charges being laid, 3 Provincial Offences Notices being issued and over $2700 worth of stolen merchandise recovered.
On November 6, 2025, six people were arrested. Two of those arrested had stolen over $1400 worth of goods. They were also wanted by other police services for 17 charges, six of which were for Theft Under $5000.
On October 9, 2025, eight arrests were made. Two people arrested that day were from Alberta and had been linked to similar thefts of toys across multiple jurisdictions. These toys were intended for resale and not personal use.
Calls for service regarding retail thefts remain a large portion of front-line officer work. Initiatives such as the one being conducted by the 1 District C.O.R.E. over the past year, not only help reduce front line workload, but they also serve as a deterrent for thieves.