It’s not a Youtube video people want to end up in.
Mac’s Convenience Stores has compiled a video of what it is dubbing as Thunder Bay’s most wanted, those still at large in the community who robbed one of the chain’s convenience stores in the past year.
“Hopefully it will generate some calls into Crime Stoppers to help identify who they are and get them off the street,” Mac’s security and loss prevention manager Sean Sportun said.
The video features four of the 16 Mac’s robberies in the city in 2012. Police have solved eight of those. That’s an improvement over 2011 where 12 of 26 robberies were solved.
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“We’ve seen a great impact that it’s had on the community,” Sportun said of social media and community campaigns.
“2012 was a much better year we had less robberies so we’re just hoping that trend will continue,” Thunder Bay Police Const. Julie Tilbury said.
The chain and police have worked together along with Crime Stoppers to help reduce the number. But Tilbury cautions that if other businesses want to try a similar route, they contact police first.
“We have things we have to keep in consideration such as continuity of evidence and making sure privacy of witnesses and victims are brought to the forefront,” she said. “They don’t want to do anything that’s going to compromise the integrity of that investigation.”
Anyone who can help identify the people in the video may be eligible for a cash reward. Although most have their faces covered, Sportun said there are other ways to tell who the people might be.
“The way they move, the way they walk, the way they’re running, the things that they do, maybe the clothing that they’re wearing. If you know the person you’re going to be able to identify them that way,” he said.
