The financial damage shoplifting does to the retail industry is measured in billions of dollars every year. For the tax payer, the financial burden that they have to endure due to the constant calls made by retailers to the police due to shoplifting is equally damaging. Walmart is one of the retailers with the most call to the police due to shoplifting incidents, and it is unlikely things will get any better.
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Macy’s barred from detaining, fining New York shoplifting suspects
An injunction was granted this week barring Macy’s stores in New York from detaining and fining suspected shoplifters in response to a class action lawsuit, according to court records from the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
The lawsuit filed by Cinthia Orellana and later joined by Samya Moftah claims the loss prevention units in some Macy’s stores in New York operate “like a typical jail, equipped with holding cells.”
The women claim they were detained, coerced into signing confessions and forced to pay to be released, all before law enforcement involvement, according to court documents.
Officials for Macy’s, headquartered in Cincinnati, have told multiple media outlets that its loss prevention practices have changed since the women’s alleged incidents.
Judge Manuel Mendez stated that New York law allows a business to detain suspected shoplifters for the purposes of investigation and questioning and allows businesses to fine shoplifters five times of the cost of the merchandise up to $500.
However, Mendez suggested Macy’s was pairing the laws unfairly.
Cop Quietly Pays For Family’s Essentials After Shoplifting Bust
A kindhearted cop in Redmond, Washington, came to the rescue of a family after the mother and father were allegedly caught trying to shoplift essential items for their children.
The Redmond Police Department officer stepped in after managers at a Target store decided not to press charges against the couple, reports local station KING.
He quietly took the diapers and clothing, which the parents were accused of trying to steal for their two kids, aged 8 years and 4 months, back to the checkout.
After paying for the items from his own pocket, he handed them back to the family and informed them where they could go to obtain more help.
News of his act of kindness emerged after an eagle-eyed police supervisor spotted the details in a shoplifting report. The department posted an excerpt from the account on Twitter.
“Sometimes our officers don’t tell us everything,” the post stated. “An attentive supervisor spied this in a recent shoplifting report.” It is now going viral.
Crimes at Jacksonville’s big box stores last year cost taxpayers $75K
Most calls at Walmart deal with shoplifting.
ACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police officers in Jacksonville spent 3,533 hours — the equivalent of 147 days – responding to petty crimes at Walmart stores in Jacksonville last year, I-TEAM research found.
Officers spent another 667 hours working shoplifting and other minor calls at Target stores in the city.
An analysis of data from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office found 5,298 police calls to the 15 Walmart stores in Jacksonville in 2015 – five times the number of calls to the eight Target stores in the city.
The Walmart on Normandy Boulevard had the most calls: 864. Shoplifting made up half of those calls, followed by thefts, then disputes.
The Walmart store at 103rd Street came in second and had 668 police calls for service last year, with the a similar breakdown of offenses.
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