If the management and/or supervisors do not have a clear sense what the shoplifting policy for the store is, the chances are your other employees will not have any idea what to do in a case of a shoplifting case at the store. Making your workforce knowledgeable about the company’s policy about shoplifting can in the future prevent situations that can be detrimental for your business and your staff.
Read more about the shoplifting rulings in Arizona, and other measures in other Townships.
An Arlington Kroger Manager Was Fired For Body-Slamming a Shoplifter
Kroger, according to the wisdom of online shoplifting forums, doesn’t have a firm “no-chase” policy, at least not one that’s routinely heeded. Leave the store without paying, and you may well have a store manager on your tail.
Claude Medlock did. The 51-year-old — a seasoned veteran of taking other people’s stuff, with a long rap sheet of robbery and theft convictions — was confronted in the parking lot of an Arlington Kroger by a store manager.
It did not end well for Medlock. The manager slammed the alleged shoplifter into a car, disarmed him of a knife, then body-slammed him on the pavement. All captured on video.
It didn’t end well for the manager, either. Kroger fired him, telling Fox 4 that his actions were “not a reflection of our company’s fraud prevention, protocol, procedures or training.”
Ruling: Right to jury trial in shoplifting cases
PHOENIX — Citing 17th Century English law, the state Court of Appeals concluded Thursday that those charged with shoplifting are entitled to demand a trial by jury.
In a unanimous decision, the judges said the Arizona Constitution makes it clear that if a jury trial was mandated for a crime during territorial days, then that right remains more than a century later. They said the fact that the crime is only a misdemeanor, punishable by six months in jail, does not override that constitutional right.
Thursday’s ruling is most immediately a defeat for the city of Peoria which had argued against having to go through the time and expense of a jury trial for Edward Bosworth. But the decision has implications for other city and county prosecutors who have until now convinced municipal judges and justices of the peace that they alone can decide a shoplifter’s guilt.
Both the state and federal constitutions entitle people charged with crimes to a trial by jury. But courts generally have held that right does not extend to offenses which can result in jail time of less than six months. And that means all misdemeanors.
In Arizona, however, there’s another factor at work. The state constitution, adopted when Arizona became a state, spells out that “the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.”
Appellate Judge Lawrence Winthrop, writing Thursday’s ruling, said that means if someone was entitled to a jury trial prior to 1912 for a comparable common law offense, then that right continues to exist.
When shoplifting cases are selling like hotcakes
Deptford Township has the right idea with a new ordinance that fines retail businesses if they call police on shoplifters and fail to follow through.
Police in the township handle about 2,000 shoplifting calls annually, which is understandable for the home of Deptford Mall and a multitude of mega-power centers.
But here’s the rub, and the main rationale for imposing limits: Only about 400, or one fifth, of the five-finger-discount calls result in prosecution in any given year.
Police should not waste time responding to businesses that won’t sign complaints. Worse, say officials, police can wait in court to testify against suspects — but the store owners don’t show up.
When the ordinance takes effect, a store will get only two cases per month that don’t result in prosecution. If there are more such calls, the store will be fined $250 for each one.
Mayor Paul Medany says that “big-box” retailers — those most likely to have sophisticated store security — take the most advantage of the willingness of the police to come running.
“I feel very strongly, personally, that the big-box retailers have to provide security, cameras and loss prevention officers,” Medany said. “You’ve got to protect your store better.”
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