Victoria — City police say they fear Buy Nothing Day scheduled for Friday may degenerate into Steal Something Day.

Buy Nothing Day is a day proponents have set aside as a protest against commercialism to urge consumers to keep their cash in their pockets.

A more radical faction has dubbed the occasion Steal Something Day, police Sgt. Alan Cochrane said Thursday.

Last year, groups of rowdies swept through downtown Victoria, stealing merchandise and terrorizing shoppers and diners, he said.

Sgt. Cochrane said that this year he has been out warning businesses about the potential damage and that a large police presence is likely.

The idea of buy-nothing is misguided at best, said Laurene Clark, CEO of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce.

"The concept was developed in the U.S. and aimed at large corporations, surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday down there," she said.

"To have Canadian unions taking it up in a community dependent on small businesses, that's a whole different matter."

Sgt. Cochrane said accept legitimate demonstrations and expect the Buy Nothing Day protest — supported by such groups as the B.C. Government and Services Employees Union — to be peaceful and pointed.

"But there's an element that takes advantage of legitimate protest, forming so-called snake lines that crowd into stores and restaurants, stealing things and jumping on tables and stealing and ruining food," he said.

Buy Nothing Day's boosters say the day after Thanksgiving in the United States is the busiest shopping day of the year and the kickoff for the corporate gluttony that leads up to Christmas.

But Sgt. Cochrane said radicals are urging people to steal from corporations, steal from wealthy individuals and commit a variety of illegal acts instead of simply not buying things.

"They're trying to make theft a political statement instead of a crime," he said.