Shoplifting

Shoplifting (also known as , or shrinkage within the retail industry) is theft of goods from a retail establishment. It is one of the most common property crimes dealt with by police and courts.

Most shoplifters are amateurs; however, there are people and groups who make their living from shoplifting, and they tend to be more skilled. Generally, criminal theft involves taking possession of property illegally. In the case of shoplifting, though, customers are allowed by the property owner to take physical possession of the property (holding it in their hands or in a shopping cart controlled by them, for instance). This leaves areas of ambiguity that could criminalize some people for simple mistakes (such as accidental hiding of a small item or forgetting to pay). That is one of the reasons that penalties for shoplifting are generally lower than those for general theft. However, in practice most stores are aware of the hazards of making a false arrest and are instructed to be sure there is no doubt (ambiguity) before they make the arrest. Trained staff know the basics, observe the person, observe the item, observe the concealment (theft), keep constant unrestricted contact with the shoplifter, wait until the shoplifter leaves the store - make the arrest. As for penalties being less for shoplifter vs for "general" theft, in most states there is no specific "shoplifting" law; rather, shoplifting is charged simply as "theft". If the dollar amount of the item stolen is low it is a lower (less serious) theft crime. If the dollar value is higher, it is a more serious theft crime.

Economic impact and response from shops

Retailers report that shoplifting has a significant effect on their bottom line, stating that about 0.6% of all inventory disappears to shoplifters. In 2001, it was claimed that shoplifting cost US retailers $25 million a day. Observers believe that industry shoplifting numbers are over half of by employee theft or fraud and the rest by patrons. Of course, if apprehended during the shoplifting, the merchandise is generally recovered by the retailers and there is often no loss to the store owner when the merchandise is surrendered to the store by the suspects. In addition, in many states retailers have the right to recover civil damages to cover the cost of providing security.

According to a December 23, 2008 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dimperio's Market, the only full service grocery store in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is closing because of shoplifters.

Legal aspects

Shoplifting is considered a form of theft and is subject to prosecution.

In the state of California, and in most cases the rest of the United States, store employees and managers have certain powers of arrest. Store officials may detain for investigation (for a reasonable length of time), the person who they have probable cause to believe is attempting to take or has unlawfully taken merchandise. At the very least, staff usually have citizen's arrest powers.

Title 13, Chapter 5, of the California Penal Code Section 490.5(f)(1) allows an employee to detain a suspected shoplifter for a reasonable amount of time.

Generally, in the United States, the store employees who detain suspects outside of and inside the store premises are allowed by state statute limited powers of arrest and have the power to initiate criminal arrests or civil sanctions, or both, depending upon the policy of the retailer and the state statutes governing civil demands and civil recovery for shoplifting as reconciled with the criminal laws of the jurisdiction.

Retailers in the United States may have the authority under state laws to request Civil Recovery Demands (Shoplifting).

Anti-shoplifting options

Shoplifting may be prevented and detected. Both options contribute to sound strategies.

Closed circuit television

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring is an important anti-shoplifting technology. Retailers focusing on loss prevention often devote most of their resources to this technology. Using CCTVs to apprehend shoplifters in the act requires full-time human monitoring of the cameras. Sophisticated CCTV systems discriminate the scenes to detect and segregate suspicious behaviour from numerous screens and to enable automatic alerting. However, the attentiveness of the surveillance personnel may be threatened by false reliance on automatics. CCTV is more effective if used in conjunction with electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems. The EAS system will warn of a potential shoplifter and the video may provide evidence for prosecution if the shoplifter is allowed to pass checkout points or leave store premises with unbought merchandise.

Electronic article surveillance

Electronic article surveillance (EAS) is second only to CCTV in popularity amongst retailers looking for inventory protection. EAS refers to the security tags that are attached to merchandise and cause an alarm to sound on exiting the store. Regularly, even when an alarm does sound, a shoplifter walks out casually and is not confronted if no guards are present. This is due to the high number of false alarms, especially in malls, due to "tag pollution" whereby non-deactivated tags from other stores set off the alarm. This can be overcome with newer systems and a properly trained staff. Some new systems either do not alarm from "tag pollution" or they produce a specific alarm when a customer enters the store with a non-deactivated tag so that store personnel can remove or deactivate it so it does not produce a false alarm when exiting the store. However, with tags that are stuck onto merchandise with glue (rather than being superimposed on) the shoplifter can easily scrape off the tag in their pocket.

Loss prevention personnel

Loss prevention personnel will patrol the store acting as if they are real shoppers. They may try on merchandise and browse the racks, all the while looking for signs of shoplifting and looking for possible shoplifters. Many large retail companies use this technique, and will watch a shoplifter conceal an item then stop them after they have exited the store. These types of personnel must follow a strict set of rules because of very high liability risks. Many big retail or grocery stores like Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, Zellers, Loblaws, etc. have a loss prevention officer to keep an eye out for shoplifters or to catch runaways. Most of these stores use secret codes to alert management, LPs and associates of shoplifters. LP is a very crucial job in that they act as an ordinary shopper and have to follow the suspects all around the store by foot or by joining the cameras, and watch every move the person makes so that they don't face a lawsuit for apprehending the wrong person.

Uniformed guards

The presence of uniformed guards acts as a deterrent to shoplifting activity and they are mostly used by high end retail establishments. However they are also used in stores like Target and Wal-Mart.

Exit inspections

Shoppers in some stores are asked when leaving the premises to have their purchases checked against the register tape.

Brazil

Shoppers in Brazil often have to leave their bags at the door on entering a store, and to receipt inspections when leaving. At popular restaurants called "comida a quilo" (food by the kilogram), it is usual to ask customers to return a "bilhete de liberdade" (liberty ticket) to the doorman. This is handed to the shopper along with the receipt for the customer to return to the doorman at the exit, which is usually only a couple metres away.

USA

In all 50 states, shoppers are under no actual obligation to accede to such a search unless the employee has reasonable grounds to suspect shoplifting, and arrests the customer or takes or looks at the receipt from the customer without violating any laws or if the customer has signed a membership agreement which stipulates that customers will subject themselves to inspections before taking the purchased merchandise from the store. In the cases of Sam's Club and Costco, the contracts merely say that it is their policy to check receipts at the exit or that they "reserve the right". That wording does not specify the results of non-compliance by the customer, and since they did not have a right to re-check receipts in the first place, it may not be legally binding at all. The purchaser who holds the receipt owns the merchandise. Employees who harass, assault, touch, or detain customers or take their purchased merchandise may be committing torts or crimes against the customers. They may have a contractual right to check your receipt, but legal experts report that they do not have a right to cross-check it against the merchandise in the customer's cart (which would hold up the waiting line a lot longer).

Close customer service

Floor attendants are instructed to greet, follow, and offer help with customer shopping. Shoplifters are not comfortable with this attention and may go somewhere else where they can work unnoticed.

BOB mirrors

Bottom of basket mirrors are commonly used in grocery stores where the checkout lanes are close together and the cashier might be unable to see the entire basket to ensure payment of all items.

Locked merchandise

Some expensive merchandise will be in a locked case requiring an employee to get items at a customer's request. The customer is either required to purchase the merchandise immediately or it is left at the checkout area for the customer to purchase when finishing shopping. This prevents the customer from having a chance to conceal the item.

Another way of locking merchandise, especially popular in liquor stores, is to place a secure, store-administered hard-plastic cap on a regular bottle top. Once purchased the clerk will remove the cap with a store key. It is not otherwise easily removable.

Many stores also lock CDs and DVDs and Video games in locking cases, which can only be opened by the checkout operator once the item has gone through the checkout.

Dummy cases

Some stores will use dummy cases, also known as "dead boxes", where the box or case on the shelf is entirely empty and the customer will not be given the item they have paid for until the transaction has been completed, usually by other Store staff. Some stores have been known to take this idea further by filling the dummy cases or boxes with a weight, similar to the weight of the actual item by using a weight specially made to fit inside the box. This causes the shoplifter to think that the box is full, trying to steal it and ending up with nothing. This is especially popular in movie rental stores such as Blockbuster.

Personnel policy

The choice of store and security personnel can strongly affect the ability of shoplifters to succeed. All personnel must be trained in the techniques shoplifters use to steal merchandise and the proper actions to take.

Test shoppers

Test shopping is a strategy to test the detection means in a shop. Subject of testing is primarily the alertness of surveillance staff and of the staff operating in the shopping areas.

Notable cases

A noted legal case involving shoplifting occurred in 2001 when actress Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting at Saks Fifth Avenue department store in Beverly Hills, California. Ryder was eventually convicted of misdemeanor theft and vandalism and will be eligible for expungement of the conviction after finishing probation. Ryder was originally convicted by a jury of felony larceny/vandalism and was sentenced in a nationally televised California Superior Court proceeding in December 2002.

In 2003, Will & Grace actress Shelley Morrison (who played Rosario Salazar) was arrested for shoplifting at a Robinsons-May store in California; the charges were later dropped. In early 2006, former White House aide Claude Allen was arrested for an alleged return scam at a Target store in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Jean Eaton, while mayor of Albert Lea, Minnesota, was accused of stealing hundreds of dollars worth of clothing from Marshall Field's stores in Rochester, Edina and St. Cloud in an alleged clothing swap scam. Eaton had claimed that police acted illegally when they executed a search warrant that gathered evidence used to support a felony theft charge against her. Eaton later reached a plea agreement with Olmsted County prosecutors to have the felony charges dropped, by entering into an adult diversion program, which includes restitution, and possible community service.

According to an August 4, 2010 Associated Press story, earlier that same day, "Caroline Giuliani, a 20-year-old Harvard University student", was arrested in New York City "on a misdemeanor shoplifting charge". She was accused of stealing "five items worth more than $100 at a Sephora store in Manhattan." Caroline Giuliani is the daughter of Rudy Giuliani a former Republican candidate for President who was both a former Mayor of New York City and former United States Attorney. Ironically Rudy Giuliani is known in the law enforcement community for being a proponent of zero tolerance, where police are told to arrest petty criminals as a way to deter major crimes.

See also

Book store shoplifting

Civil recovery

Exit control lock

Fence (criminal)

Kleptomania

Larceny

Loss prevention

Organized retail crime

Package pilferage

Receipt of stolen property

Yomango

''Evasion, an autobiography detailing one man's shoplifting and dumpster diving-supported travels

References

Further reading

Books

Articles

Yomango "Shoplifting as Social Commentary" by Robert Andrews

Category:Distribution, retailing, and wholesaling Category:Theft Category:Crimes