BC Business Magazine Article

I was going through some of the publications that I read on a regular basis and came across an article that was posted in B.C. Business Magazine in the January edition. The article is in reference to our Undercover Loss Prevention Team; a team we manage through the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association that is contracted primarily to protect members of the DVBIA and their property from theft and vandalism.

It’s a really good read based on one reporters experience following two of our team members around for the day.

Excerpts include:

“It would take a veritable army of people to tag, monitor and trail the dealings of these seedy characters and the numerous petty and more serious offenses that occur on an average day in downtown Vancouver. Goertzen and Mota, with their earpieces, intimate knowledge of Vancouver’s gritty street life and CSI-type jargon, seem like your typical undercover cops. Except they’re not. They’re loss-prevention officers working for Genesis Security Group under contract to the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), and their beat is a bustling 90-square-block area that’s home to some 8,000 businesses.”

“Both Jones and VPD spokesperson Constable Howard Chow cite a recent case when co-operation between police and private security helped to quickly solve a serious crime. Last August security cameras captured the brazen assault and robbery of a Vancouver senior as he exited the foyer of Holy Rosary Cathedral. When the VPD distributed a photograph, loss-prevention officer Mota immediately recognized the suspect, a 43-year-old man known by locals as an aggressive panhandler. The following day, Mota led police directly to the spot where the individual frequently loitered and authorities moved in for the arrest.”

With 400 to 500 arrests every year, this is a program that is proven to be valuable both to members of the DVBIA and the community itself.

For the record, B.C. Business Magazine is the most widely read business magazine in the province and also the winner of the 2007 BC/Yukon Magazine of the Year. It has been published for over thirty years by Canada Wide Media Limited who is the largest independent magazine publisher in Western Canada.