There is no profile of a shoplifter. And although lately some retail stores have been charged with profiling shoppers, the truth is, you cannot know whether a customer entering your store is a shoplifter or not. Security cameras, loss prevention officers and well trained managers can help a business with shoplifting. But making assumptions whether this particular customer is a shoplifter can, in the long run, make your business loose more money by engaging in profiling.
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Ex-Trooper Who Shot Man Arrested for Shoplifting
Columbia, SC (WLTX) – A former South Carolina Highway Patrol officer who shot a man during a traffic stop last year has been arrested on a shoplifting charge.
Sean Groubert, 32, and his wife, 23-year-old Morgan Groubert were both arrested back on October 18, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
According to an incident report, the two were at the Walmart at 10060 Two Notch Road. A loss-prevention employee at the store said the two were at the self-checkout register paying $29.84 for items worth $136.04. The employee told deputies the men had changed the price tags on the items.
Both were booked at the Richland County Detention Center. Groubert’s lawyer said his client is accused of stealing food.
At a hearing Monday morning, a judge did not revoke bond for Sean Groubert on the charges he’s facing related to the shooting, but did order him to be on house arrest without electronic monitoring. Sean Groubert asked the judge to keep him out of jail because he said his wife is expecting a child and he’s the only source of income.
At odds over shoplifting policy in Knoxville, Tennessee
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Knox County District Attorney is taking an aggressive new approach against shoplifters that could land repeat offenders in prison for years.
District Attorney General Charme Allen has authorized the use of felony burglary charges to prosecute petty thieves who return to the scene of their shoplifting crimes, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/1RspPlA). The policy, enacted a few months ago, is untested in Tennessee’s appellate courts, according to attorneys.
Montana State player pleads guilty to shoplifting
BOZEMAN, MONT.
A Montana State men’s basketball player has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft for shoplifting from a Bozeman grocery store.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1OlokYC ) 22-year-old Shikei “Shy” Blake pleaded guilty to Bozeman Municipal Court on Oct. 21. Sentencing is set for Nov. 18.
A citation indicates the theft happened on Sept. 20 at Town & Country Foods. No additional information was available.
MSU coach Brian Fish declined to comment.
Blake is a junior center from Wilmington, Delaware, and transferred to MSU from Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. He arrived on campus in late July.
The Bobcats open their season with an exhibition game Tuesday against Northwest Indian College.
State’s shoplifting laws handcuff retailers
The other day, I walked out of a hardware store without making a purchase because I couldn’t get a clerk to come unlock the anti-theft hook from which the item I wanted was dangling. My petulance came cheap because I knew I could buy the same item at any number of other places, but it made me wonder how often anti-theft devices do double duty as anti-sales devices.
According to the 24th annual National Retail Security Survey, American retailers lost $16.7 billion to shoplifters in 2014. Since the study looked at inventory shrink, it apparently didn’t factor in the cost of anti-shoplifting devices – or lost sales to customers irritated by them.
Nor, apparently, did it include the cost of chunky tags on clothing, swiveling surveillance cameras and the hiring of loss-prevention specialists, those retail employees whose jobs have nothing to do with selling or customer satisfaction.
We’ve grown accustomed to the sight of uniformed guards standing sentry near store exits and patrolling the parking lot the way cowboys once rode the fence line. According to federal statistics, private security guards now outnumber certified law enforcement officers by a 3-2 margin. Security, in America, is increasingly a product to be purchased.
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