As The Economy Sinks, Shoplifting Arrests Soar!
The New York Times says that police departments all over the country are reporting an increase in shoplifting arrests — up to 20%.
Many of the shoplifters are first time offenders who panicked and did something stupid, but others are professionals taking advantage of cutbacks in retail staff.
“More people are desperate economically, retailers are operating with leaner staffs and police forces are cutting back or being told to deprioritize shoplifting calls,” said Paul Jones, the vice president of asset protection for the Retail Industry Leaders Association.
The problem, he said, could be particularly acute this December, “the month of the year when shoplifting always goes way up.”
Two of the largest retail associations say that more than 80 percent of their members are reporting sharp increases in shoplifting, according to surveys conducted in the last two months.
Compounding the problem, stores are more reluctant to stop suspicious customers because they fear scaring away much-needed business. And retailers are increasingly trying to save money by hiring seasonal workers who, security experts say, are themselves more likely to commit fraud or theft and are less practiced at catching shoplifters than full-time employees are.
The Times says that $35 million dollars of stuff is stolen every single day nationwide, and about 1 in 11 people have shoplifted. Tsk, tsk.
As Economy Dips, Arrests for Shoplifting Soar [NYT]
(Photo: saramarie )
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam malesuada commodo erat et molestie. Duis pellentesque aliquam bibendum. Suspendisse venenatis lobortis eleifend. Mauris id est sed lectus convallis aliquam.
Post a comment
Comments:
Oh, so you mean if I was a teenager now instead of 10 years ago, I wouldn't have store detectives following me around in every upscale store I visit?
Yeah, I was a purple-haired teenager. But I never shoplifted in my life.
12.775 billion dollars a year lost to shoplifting? That's a lot of money.
When I used to work at Sears (I know, I know), we always noticed that as shoplifting increased, so did the number of violent yet totally awesome tacklings of shoplifters by Lost Prevention... It always helped to raise staff spirits during the Holiday season.
@nicemarmot617: I love how they follow the obvious person. It's like
"are you a shoplifter?"
"No. I'm the decoy!"
Didn't we see several stories of employees who stop shoplifters and are then fired? (I think one was Home Depot)
So even if a seasonal (or regular) employee wants to deter shop lifting, they can't, for fear of being fired.
@AlteredBeast: very true, liability issues I guess. I feel that those people should get a raise and a promotion but then again, I am not the CEO of Home Depot.
On a side note, I got some primo stuff today. Fell off a truck. Come on over to my van...
Don't forget that employee theft accounts for more than half of all shoplifting.
Mostly retail staff who see themselves as underpaid and decide to help themselves to Christmas bonuses... or Frys CEOs
Little do the people at Michael's craft store know how much I've stolen from them over the years. With my eyes. I get ideas, then I go to Hobby Lobby.
They are simply following the example set by the Fry's VP, just on a smaller scale.
@AlteredBeast: That's very true. I used to work retail while I was in school and it was STRESSED that only the loss prevention officers could stop someone, and that there were strict rules in place over what had to happen for them to even hit that step.
However, they did encourage us to, if we saw or suspected someone of shoplifting that we get someone to call a security page, call the LP (if available), and then stick close to the person while dropping subtle hints that you were on to them while not actually saying anything accusing. Like "I noticed looked interested in (product X), is there anything I can help you with?" If they try to disengage, follow them and start cleaning in the aisle they're in.
Hopefully once they catch on that you're following them around, they'll either dump their stuff and walk out and you are able to recover the product, or they'll actually pay for the stuff and you get a sale. And hey, if for whatever reason, they really aren't trying to steal anything, it means you're always there if they need help with a product, possibly netting a sale.
The article is fine, but that photo is perfect.
I find it interesting that the article specifies that shoplifting ARRESTS have gone up, but I'm willing to wager that shoplifting levels (aka shrink) haven't changed too much.
At the supermarket where I worked, our shrink levels were the worst in the city. It had just as much to do with the customers as it did with the mad sketchy people we hired. We never prosecuted shoplifters, though - our management just couldn't be bothered to stay the extra half hour to process the report. It drove me up the wall.
However, with businesses tightening their belts, it's likely that they're more interested in sending a message to would-be offenders. Since I left, I've heard of way more arrests and firings. One was particularly nasty - the perp pooped all over the manager's office. But that's another story.
@The Name's Ash78, Housewares:Same thing here, but its the stuff at the farmers markets and school fairs that really catches my eye. Those people will answer my questions on how something was made, thinking I am going to buy it. Erm, nope, just "getting inspired".
does eating a grape at the supermarket count? If so I am so guilty...
"One was particularly nasty - the perp pooped all over the manager's office. But that's another story. "
@unobservant: Go on. We have time to read a story...
Reminds me of a friend of mine that was a manager at CATO. They were really big on loss prevention, but provided the store with nothing to combat it. They did have tags on higher end merch, but shoplifters know how to pop those off in about 2 seconds. Usually corporate would cut hours so much, you'd end up with 1 person on the floor and ringing up people, and one person in the back doing inventory. And somehow 1 person on the floor was supposed to be able to help all the customers, ring them all up, AND catch shoplifters in the act.
Yes, but if you bought the bunch, then you're ok. If it was a loose grape who's gonna care?
I wouldn't turn you in.
@jaydez: Here's the short version (warning: please read on an empty stomach):
Homeless dude shoplifts for the umpteenth time.
Manager gets tired of it and hauls him into the office after paging mall security.
Dude thinks that, if he craps his pants on the way to the office, manager will let him go.
Manager is rightly disgusted, but he can't tell security that he let dude go 'cause he made a stinky, and he doesn't yet know that it was a solid.
Manager is horrified to discover that it was neither a solid nor a gas, as evidenced by the trail leading into the office.
Security shows up and are trying to keep a straight face as they call the police.
Dude figures, at this point, that it's a big ol' liqui-poop free-for-all and builds a massive brown puddle on the floor.
The police take an inordinately LONG TIME to show up and don't really want to have to take him in, but the manager figures that, if he has a mess to clean up and a half-hour's worth of closed-door stink, everyone should share the joy.
THE END.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
@OminousG: If I was in your group, it would be 2 of 11.
I once stole a ping pong ball from a thrift store because we needed to play beer pong and I forgot cash.
Maybe I'm strange, but if I ever go back to Maui, the first thing I do will be to go back to that store, explain, and give them a dollar. That should cover the 25c plus 5 years interest.
I once had a guy telling me about how he always shoplifted from Wal-Mart because "they pay their employees too little, won't let them unionize, and are an evil company"
Of course, he is a freakign moron, because shoplifting lowers profits, and most companies don't just say, "well shucks, I guess we can only wipe our asses with $50's now. They trim corners, starting with employee hours thus hurting the people they are so concerned about.
@OminousG:
Either I grew up among more economically desperate people than most, or that 1 in 11 includes only people who've done it as adults...because that sounds awfully low.
@HogwartsAlum: Maybe she just said she isn't to throw us off her tracks, and she really is, and is keeping an eye out for Home Depot related stories on the Consumerist!
I think the best shoplifting deterrent is now going to be the idea that getting busted = being detained with or immediately after that guy.
@Triterion: Technically, it IS stealing, and it does contribute to loss.
However, the simple fact that you ate an unwashed grape after untold throngs of people dripping in sweat/snot/stink/various other bodily fluids is more than punishment enough, IMHO.
@unobservant: Wow, I FAIL.
If my lack of sentence completion skillz didn't convey it clearly enough, putting things in your mouth that are touched by people who don't wash their hands after various bodily functions is something that you should be warned against as early as possible with the words, "NO. DIRTY."
@Kogenta: That is what I've experienced working retail, but during the holiday rush you really can't leave assisting customers to go tail someone else until LP arrives.
Plus, customers who shop lift KNOW this to be the case.
If sales reps were given LP status too, allowing them to stop and detain a customer at the moment they see them acting shady, then you'd have far less loss. You'd have "professional" shop lifters avoiding that store. It'd cost more per hour for those workers, but it might be worth it (in the case of a small retail store, not something like Wal-Mart).
I have a friend that owns a retail store. He told me 2 months ago that shoplifting is out of hand. He estimates he loses about 15% of this merchandise to shoplifters. He said the vast majority were kids stealing things. He catches many. But, many more get away. How does he make up for the losses? Good guess, he has to raise prices on everything. So we all get to pay for the crooks. Kind of like the bailout madness.
I've never stolen anything and the reason is a simple thing my mom once told me when I was young: "if you ever feel you want something so badly that you would shop-lift it, tell me what it is and I'll buy it for you."
I never called her on it, as the words stuck so well with me and I realized that there was nothing in the world worth screwing up your life for.
@SWAK_GitEmSteveDave loves->★:
I've been followed for years for SWB (shopping while black). I wonder how many "innocent" looking folks are stealing stuff while security is following me around the store...
Ame@tbax929: AMEN to that!!! Either they follow me around the store the entire time or I cant get anyone to help me but they will help every non-black person that walks up to the counter (i'm looking at you Tiffany's)
My local grocery store has hired an armed guard to patrol the site. The employees I spoke to told me some horrifying stories about what's been happening since the economy tanked. A couple of weeks ago I went in and asked for a small basket to shop with, and was told they were all gone. Gone as in stolen, walked right out the door. The Rite-Aid that closed right next door had three enormous refrigerator sized boxes next to the registers, overflowing with merchandise they took off shoplifters.
BTW, I'm in a Northern Virginia suburb of Washington, DC.
@mariospants: .... Are you like my half sibling or something?
I got VERBATIM the same speech as a kid.
And the only thing I ever took without paying [honestly, I forgot!] I went back to the store about 8 mins later after I realized I hadn't paid yet.
@AlteredBeast: While I will agree that holiday rush is impossible to service a shoplifter into leaving without the goods, I don't think giving everyone LP status would help. It would probably end up being a bigger mess than it's worth since you'd need to train everyone. With the turnover rates in retail, it would be prohibative to do it for anyone who wasn't going to be in for the long haul.
You also have to consider that a lot of retail employees probably would not want to have to actually try to stop potentially armed and dangerous shoplifters. It's one thing to be asking if they need help with something and dropping subtle hints, it's something completely different actually having to stop someone who may or may not have weapons, and may or may not try to fight you.
Also, while, it could be made to work some places, in areas where concealment is not considered shoplifting, it would flat out be impossible. Because of the requirements needed to actually stop someone (at least where I am), you'd need to completely devote yourself to that one "customer" up until the moment they dump the stuff or leave the store. And as you pointed out, it's not something a retail clerk can do during the holidays.
The bright side is that those customers who shoplift and don't get caught have a tendancy to come back for more (unless they're professional shoplifters). They assume that since they didn't get caught, their methods are above detection when in reality, the LP might not have been able to meet all the requirements to make an arrest at the time, but sure as heck know to watch for them the next time.
Professional shoplifters are probably the hardest to catch because a lot of the better ones take the time to know the store. They know what the rules are, and they're generally well informed about the stores they choose to hit.
@Burgandy: So you steal other artists' ideas instead of coming up with your own? How terribly creative you are.
@kwsventures: Same thing here. All of my employees are fed up with it too, which really doesn't help morale in an already stressful time of year. What was an occasional problem has now become regular and serious in both of our small stores.
Last Friday I was called for a price check on a large item. I had just finished putting sale tags on all of that inventory not five minutes before. The shelf tag and sticker on the item were both gone. A couple was waiting on me for the price. So I raised it by $50. (I'm the manager, I get to set prices).
Oh yeah, I got the stinkeye as they walked out the door.
@AlteredBeast: You get the right person, you save the company $20, $40, $60...
You get the wrong person, you get your company sued.
@Adrienne Willis: From my retail experience, you mainly want to be on the lookout for clean-cut white kids with Abercrombie jackets on.
Those bitches steal like copies of Fever Pitch are water in the greatest drought man has ever known.
I feel so special, only 1 in 11.