NDP: Give store owners enough time to hold crooks

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The federal NDP is trying to get support from local businesses for a bill aimed at protecting shop owners.

Walking along Victoria Drive in Vancouver, MPs Don Davies and Olivia Chow talk to business owners affected by theft. Davies says the bill changes the time an arrest can be made.

“A shopkeeper is still not entitled to assault the person or commit any illegal act. But they are allowed to detain a person within a reasonable time of the crime being committed, as opposed to during the commission.”

Bhim Grover owns Dollar Daze. He says theft isn’t a big problem for him, but he signed the petition anyway. “It’s a big concern.”

A debate over how much force a merchant can use to nab a suspect emerged after a Toronto flower shop owner was accused, and ultimately acquitted, of detaining and tying down a crook who returned to his store an hour after committing a theft.

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