The United Kingdom police arrested people involved in a shoplifting ring this past week, The New York police in the United States arrested 3 people involved in a shoplifting ring, and 3 more people are arrested in Delaware for the same crime last week. Shoplifting is a crime that in Europe, The United States, and other developed countries is so widespread that is costing businesses billions of dollars a year, and authorities are trying to find a solution to a problem that so far has no end in sight.
For more about this and other stories, follow the links below.
Can Science Stop Stealing? UF Researcher Aims to Find Out
University of Florida Research Scientist Dr. Read Hayes is gathering data to better understand shoplifters’ habits.
By Stephen Sellner · May 20, 2016
Dr. Read Hayes started the Loss Prevention Research Council 30 years ago. There, he studies video surveillance supplied by retailers to study shoplifting tendencies and better understand what deters them from stealing. Part of Hayes’ research involves interviewing shoplifters who are caught in the act to learn more about how they operate and what entices them to steal certain items. In exchange for talking, Hayes gives them a gift card to the store.
“We’re trying to really understand the thought process,” Hayes told Fox 13 News. “We’ve got to understand the psychology here in order for us to help influence their decisions.”
Below is a video that goes into more detail on Hayes’ work that has retailers very interested.
Delaware troopers arrest 3 in organized shoplifting
Delaware State Police troopers have arrested three people in connection with an organized retail theft operation.
Around 8:40 p.m. Saturday, May 28, troopers were dispatched to the Marshall’s store at 4575 Coastal Highway for a report of a shoplifting in progress, police said. When the troopers got there they saw a loss prevention employee chasing after three people running from the store, police said, and the troopers were able to detain the three suspects without further incident.
Police said the investigation revealed the three were removing security devices from clothing in the store and then concealing them in a backpack which they also took from the store’s sales rack. When the loss prevention employee confronted the three and identified himself, they dropped the merchandise and fled, police said.
East Cambridgeshire Police’s crime reduction officer has launched her ‘Sue’s Essentials’ project by handing out boxes of toiletries and sanitary items to colleges across the region.
The case of a 12-year-old girl caught shoplifting toiletries in Ely inspired Sue Loaker to kick-start ‘Sue’s Essentials’ – an initiative that aims to reduce crime – theft in particular – through the distribution of free toiletries, sanitary items and underwear.
Toothbrushes, sanitary towels, hairbrushes and bras are just a selection of goods on offer to teenagers who may be unable to buy the items themselves or may not be receiving them at home.
Ms Loaker believes that offering the items to the region’s young people for free can help reduce the number of teenage shoplifters, and hopes it will also aid in the prevention of bullying in schools.
She said: “Ultimately, it’s a self esteem issue, and not having these items can lead to bullying and crime.
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