Two teens in New Mexico are now reporting to juvenile probation after they were snagged allegedly attempting to swipe $2 worth of bracelets from a local Walmart. Does this mean that the retail giant has changed its policy of not pursuing charges against minors for thefts under $25?
In 2006, WakeUpWalmart.com and The New York Times reported that Walmart employees had been told that “the guidelines for prosecution of shoplifters have changed: the retail value of the merchandise recovered must exceed $25, and the suspected shoplifter must be at or between the ages of 18 and 65.”
But on Sept. 10, when store staffers say they saw the teens, ages 15 and 17, open a pack of bracelets and put the pilfered items in their pockets, they contacted the police.
According to a local news report, the apprehension of these two girls occupied at least an hour of police time before the girls were ultimately released into their families’ custody.
What do you think of the policy of not prosecuting shoplifters for petty thefts? Would a return to its former zero-tolerance policy do more to curb this kind of bad behavior?
Teens allegedly shoplifted $2 worth of bracelets from Walmart [Las Cruces Sun-News]
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If it’s within the law then I’m for it. The thief thinks it’s petty at first, but after doing it for a while they start stealing more expensive stuff. An example is of this girl from jr high, she would still things like gel pens and other stuff and by time she was a jr in highschool she was already stealing money from people. I steered clear of her of course, but stealing can progress.
Yet the school systems have ZERO TOLERANCE policy regarding drugs, including aspirin. If one student handed an aspirin to another they could be expelled.
If a 17 year old had a .001 BAC they could lose their driving privleges until they turned 21, under zero tolerance.
The above two examples the kids did nothing wrong and get punished harshly, but the girls get a stern lecture for STEALING
even if they weren’t prosecuted, it shows that principle that stealing is wrong
if they can’t assess a monetary punishment, the shame is greater in many cases
How about calling the fashion police? Two dollar bracelets? Seriously though, prosecute. If you give kids a pass creepy parents will use them to shoplift for them. You could actually make a lot of money stealing one $24 dollar item at a time.
As a Home Improvement Store Manager, I once had to fire an employee for stealing a ridiculously inexpensive item. The employee wanted to pay for the item after having been caught.
I refused the payment using the reasoning that if I let that employee get away with it, then I’d have to give every other employee an opportunity after getting caught. Who knows how much they’d have gotten out of the store before being caught?
Every act has a consequence, good or bad.
While the girls might have “only” stolen $2 bracelets, it’s also entirely possible that one or both of them might be “regulars”–folks that are (believed to be) stealing frequently, but haven’t been caught (yet). We have several of them at my store, like the kid with the shoe and underwear fetish, or the gal with the really bad bleached hair. Walmart might feel that the girls went over the theft minimum some time ago.
Walmart has/had a policy of not pursuing charges with minors? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. How is there not an army of 17 year olds (with typical 17 year old judgment) out there trying once a day to steal a HDTV?
When I was in my early teens I shoplifted a couple times (and I’m certainly not proud of it), but were I to have been caught and had to deal with my parents, that would have been enough punishment to last a lifetime. A friend of mine had this phase where he was like a pyromaniac/kleptomaniac (so much so that in 8th grade his locker was FULL of lighters, seriously — hundreds of them, all stolen). He ended up getting caught, got in pretty big trouble without going to jail (his parents are old school Asian and he wouldn’t even talk about his punishment), but I think it made him a better person. He ended up going to West Point.
HMM I wonder if they did something else also like cause a scene or just have a bad attitude when caught. I worked a a regional grocery chain and in the 2 years I was there we only prosecutes under $50 in items once. As they were escorting her back to the room she was shouting obscenities The girl told the assistant manager that if he got the cops involved she would tell them he touched her breast in the backroom.
SILLYBANDS!!
They’re really popular with kids, boys and girls of all ages, and the only way you can steal $2 WORTH of bracelets.
Punish: Yes
Prosecute: No
How is this even a topic of discussion? To sit by and allow this behavior will only cause it to continue. If you’re for sending a child to school to learn, you should be for them learning a lesson. Great use of tax dollars if you ask me.
Absolutely. Stealing is stealing no matter what the value.
Sheesh, you all need to relax. If theft is theft no matter the item or cost, then don’t be whining when the cops come to your door for the extra pens you stole from your office last week.
Yes. If they don’t why do we even have laws.
Strike 1 … 2 more and throw away the key. … got it, kids?
I say “cut off thier hands”
I’m surprised at all the intelligent answers. Stealing is stealing.period.
A theft is a theft. So anyone can walk into any WalMart and simply walk out of the store with anything under $25? If that’s ok, then they will soon go belly up.
Hey, theft is theft. Except when it’s borrowing music for personal educational purposes only.
I’d say it changes things when the item has been damaged. Had they caught the girls with the item intact, that may have changed the situation. But policy is not absolute. If they feel the kids who did it are the type that will do it again, it would be stupid not to call the police.
Isn’t it curious how shoplifting is categorized as “crime against the state” but when Walmart overcharges a customer (or thousands of customers) they aren’t liable for prosecution since it is a civil matter.
Several years ago I was overcharged by WalMart on more than one occasion (charged more at the register than posted at the product display) and presented a gang of Chicago lawyers with a class action case with intentions of serving as class plaintiff. They absconded with my work product and filed the case in California. During the same time period the CA Attorney General was also scrutinizing Walmart.
END RESULT: The lawyers who purloined my work product struck a back room deal with WalMart in October of 2009 and walked away with a 7 figure settlement. The state of CA implemented shin kicked walmart and required them to implement pro-consumer safeguards to prevent WMart from overcharging CALIFORNIA customers for a measly 4 year period. Why only 4 years? What about consumers in the other 49 states? Don’t they deserve the same protection !! Wake Up Walmart never posted any information on this hush-hush settlement at their website and did not respond to my offer to provide specifics.
Savvy consumers realize the 800lb gorilla has very little to fear from state or federal agencies, or most law firms. I spoke with a state employed store inspector from Vermont who experienced the same bizarre WalMart overpricing scenario as I did. We both alerted Walmart of an overcharge problem and they corrected the situation, but 2 days later the same problem resurfaced. Why? The corporate mainframe negated the corrected store price, despite the fact the lowered price was consistent with the price displayed. This is not an uncommon problem, but WalMart has proven to be the least capable of detecting and preventing these incidents, which is quite strange in light of the fact they boast of being the “king of efficiency” in all other retail related matters.
I was left wondering WHY the Vermont store inspector did not refer the matter to the state Attorney General, or take other action to protect consumers. It was easy to get the impression many of these agencies are content holding out their hand several times each year for that $5,000 or $10,000 pricing non-compliance fine rather than correcting the situation.
Yes. Being a thief is one of the biggest signs of being a piece of s%#@.
well one girl from High school in 1996, went from petty theft to stealing clothes from Old Navy an Burlington Coat factory and ended up on drugs. She would get caught with the petty theft and a wrist slap, but that was it. I saw her September 2009, with her accomplice and they were acting shifty and stuffing under ware an shirts in their jacket sleeves and pant legs. I told a manager, and she and the helper were apprehended. Detectives had been following them when they walked in.
Absolutely they should be prosecuted. While it is the parents responsibility to raise their children to make the right choices in life, some either don’t participate or try very hard and are not successful. When the kids step out of line then it is the community that needs to reinforce what is acceptable behavior. Some would have a problem with the tax dollars being spent over a $2 bracelet, but I think its money well spent. If this one small interaction with the legal system has the effect of modifying their behavior and keeps them from moving on to bigger and better things then it is money well spent.
Put another way I would gladly pay a few hundred, even a few thousand now and not have to pay tens of thousands later when they are in and out of jail for other petty offenses or worse. Now I would hope the judge would levy the appropriate humiliation, picking up trash in bright orange overalls in front of their school or somewhere else that is sacred to them. Though I guess in this day and age that might actually backfire and they would think they are all hard now and wear it like a badge of honor.
Having run a number of stores, the added cost to apprehend and/or prosecute a shoplifter was never a concern.
What was important was to establish a reputation that we would prosecute for any amount. Enforcing a zero tolerance policy acts a deterrent, especially among teens.
Having run a number of stores, the added cost to apprehend and/or prosecute a shoplifter was never a concern.
What was important was to establish a reputation that we would prosecute for any amount. Enforcing a zero tolerance policy acts a deterrent, especially among teens.
I’m actually shocked they don’t pursue $25 and under for younger ages. If this got out, why wouldn’t kids just go into walmart and attempt to steal whatever they can, whenever?
Yes, stealing is a crime.
“”It was only $2,” the girls allegedly protested. “What does it matter?”"
That’s why they should be slapped with charges. If that’s their attitude, chances are they’ve done it before because they obviously see no problem with shoplifting.
I think Wal-Mart should press charges regardless of the value of the items. If you’re going to take the risk of stealing, make sure you steal something valuable.