For many years now, police departments and local shop owners have worked together to prevent shoplifting in their communities. The relationship between drugs, alcohol and shoplifting are problems that they know exist and they intend to face and find solutions for them.
The bureau of Justice Statistics research found that more than half of the women arrested for shoplifting tested positive for illicit drugs, compared to two-thirds of the men.
Police departments want to help retailers fight the shoplifting problem by being proactive and acknowledging the fact that drug addiction and shoplifting go hand in hand.
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While the “retail apocalypse” narrative is nonsense, it’s clear that we are witnessing a major contraction in traditional retail space. Store closings have tripled year over year and more surely loom on the horizon. The “death of the mall” narrative also tilts to the hyperbolic, but in many ways it is the end of the mall as we know it, as dozens close and even larger number are getting re-invented in ways big and small.
While the shrinking of store fleets gets a lot of attention, another dynamic is becoming important. Increasingly, major retailers are down-sizing the average size of their prototypical store. In some cases, this is a solid growth strategy. Traditional format economics often don’t allow for situating new locations in areas with very high rents or other challenging real estate circumstances. Target’s urban strategy is one good example. In other situations, smaller formats allow for a more targeted offering, as with Sephora’s new studio concept.
Police in Mentor are trying to stop shoplifting before it happens
Mentor police say that, according to the statistics, their shoplifting surveillance program is working, and fewer drug abusers have been arrested shoplifting.
Three years ago, officers in the Mentor Police Department noticed a correlation between drug use and “theft rings.” The department received a grant from the state to start the Retail Crime Theft Deterrence program. Officers who participate in the program keep an eye on retail stores in the city of Mentor looking for suspicious behavior, and for known drug abusers who have a history of shoplifting or other crimes.
The program, now in its third year, points to statistics showing a decline of admitted drug users arrested for shoplifting.
In 2015, police said 62 percent of those arrested for shoplifting were admitted drug addicts. That number went up to 72 percent in 2016, but so far this year, 37 percent of those arrested for shoplifting admit having problems with drugs.
According to information from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than half of women arrested for theft, and nearly two thirds of men, test positive for illicit drugs when they are arrested.
Mentor police Officer Jim Collier said retailers appreciate the program
Serial shoplifter who bit supermarket worker walks free from court
A SHOPLIFTER who bit a supermarket worker has avoided an immediate jail sentence.
Kerry Gallimore, of Chaucer Grove, Atherton, assaulted an Asda employee causing him actual bodily harm after being caught stealing food to the value of £78 in the town on January 13.
In other shoplifting offences committed in Atherton, the 28-year-old also stole plants to the value of £24 and £15 from Tesco on April 18 and May 25 respectively and £50 worth of make-up from Boots on June 15.
Gallimore was also convicted of dishonestly receiving a stolen 43-inch smart television valued at £600 in Atherton on May 3 and two counts of failing to turn up at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court after being released on police bail.
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