The Bunker Blog

Here’s an interesting story and video out of Las Vegas. Police recovered 2000 bottles of shampoo from this ring of thieves, who were stealing and then selling at swap meets, flea markets, and online.

Police there are considering charging shoplifters with burglary because, according to police, the shoplifters enter the establishment with the intent to commit a larceny. According to the police source, that’s burglary in Vegas. Not sure how that’ll stick, though.

We have also seen an increase in employees getting involved in these kinds of cases, and in some cases, even selling the items themselves. It’s happening out there folks, and each of us in the business is affected by these people in one way or another.

Organized Retail Crime is real, and it is having a negative impact on retail shrink. Some are being affected more than others. Anybody want to share an experience with ORC? Leave a comment.

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According to local news, Police in Genessee County Michigan conducted a shoplifting blitz at a local mall on Friday, September 19th, which resulted in 25 arrests in one day. This came after increased complaints from retailers, who report that losses from shoplifting have tripled since spring.  Police arrested 20 adults and 5 juveniles in the blitz on Friday. Interestingly enough, there were no arrests made on Saturday.

Personally, I love the concept of police and even LP doing blitz style investigations. Every area in a given territory can be visited regularly, and at random. That way, the shoplifters never know when it’s coming. What a great deterrent. 

As the rate of shoplifting increases, retailers and law enforcement are working hard to come up with ways to combat the problem.

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On September 7th, MSNBC aired a 1-hour documentary entitled “Boosting For Billions” which took a serious look at the growing problem of Organized Retail Theft.  The program featured interviews with Jerry Biggs, ORC Division Coordinator at Walgreens, and Tony Heredia, Director, Assets Protection at Target Corporation. Below is an excerpt:

According to the MSNBC investigation, Organized Retail Theft costs retailers up to $40 billion annually, and that number is more than all other property crimes combined; and, it is growing. So, why is this type of crime so popular today? Part of the answer may lie in the fact that, while burglary is a felony in every state, shoplifting is not.

“Burglary is a felony in every state. In every state in the United States, if I go in your garage and take your bicycle, it’s a felony offense. If I go into Walmart in Wisconsin and I take 5 bicycles, each for $100.00, it’s a misdemeanor.”                                   - Jerry Biggs

The potential reward for “boosting” outweighs the risk. Since boosters are not your average, law-abiding citizens anyway, a misdemeanor charge that carries, in all likelihood, a fine, is just not a significant deterrent to their activities. 

According to the MSNBC report, there are 3 levels of boosters:

1. Level 1 boosters are usually narcotics addicts, sometimes homeless, and shoplift to make their money.
2. Level 2 boosters are similar to level 1, but they have transportation, and will travel within their immediate area to steal more.
3. Level 3 boosters work in travelling groups and travel a region, filling orders. These are full-time boosters who work from city to city, stealing as much as they can in each location before moving on to the next.

These boosters then sell their wares to “Fences”, who pay them pennies on the dollar for the stolen merchandise, and then re-sell the merchandise at flea markets, in small stores, or online through auction sites like eBay, Craigslist, etc. According to MSNBC, investigators in one city documented as many as 70 transactions between boosters and fences, in the open, in one 2-hour period.

Consumers can help, though. Tony Heredia, Target Corporation’s Director of Assets Protection, says consumers should ask themselves:

“Is it worth me getting a great deal to fund a criminal enterprise? Is it worth me getting a great deal to help people buy guns, buy drugs, or otherwise circumvent legitimate business dealers…”

Estimates are that states lost about $1 billion in tax revenue to Organized Retail Theft last year. That means that, in addition to causing retailers to have to increase their prices to maintain profitability, states also have to make up for their losses. That means taxpayers/consumers take a double hit in the pocket book from this crime. 

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Fayetteville, NC has seen a significant increase in shoplifting incidents over last year, according to local police and the Fayetteville Observer.

According to data provided by police, there was a 46 percent increase in shoplifting at the city’s three Wal-Mart stores and a 74 percent increase at Cross Creek Mall. The data represent the number of shoplifting incidents reported Jan. 1 to Aug. 20 compared with the same period in 2007.

That is a huge jump. What is not clear from this story is the number of shoplifting incidents reported. For example, does that 46% represent 146 cases versus 100 last year? or does it represent something more like 4 more cases than last year? It must be pretty significant, though, because police case clearance rates on shoplifting incidents has slipped from 96% in 2007 to 85% this year. This is still not bad at all, but it does seem to indicate that the workload has increased significantly.

At any rate, Fayetteville is not alone, it would seem. Everyday I read more stories about increasing shoplifting incidents reported.  This so-called “victimless” crime is clogging up the courts, and costing retailers, and their customers, literally billions. And it’s getting worse…

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A woman in Utica, NY was arrested for shoplifting recently. When police processed her, they found that she had been arrested 23 times in the past. According to the news story, at least one of these arrests resulted in a conviction for manslaughter in 1989.

So, what’s the answer here? Apparently the courts have failed at stopping her. If she is legitimately ill, she isn’t getting treatment, obviously. If she is just a thief, she has no fear of jail. So, what is the answer?

This brings up another question: Why do they continue to do it? Since we know that shoplifters very often don’t stop, even after being caught, I can’t help but wonder why that is.

Some would say it is because they have a sickness, and they need treatment to help them understand the illness and overcome it. Others believe that the reason they don’t stop is because the reward far outweighs the cost, even if they are caught.

I happen to believe the latter, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. I think they continue because the courts are so overloaded that it has become all-too-common to plea even shoplifting to lesser offenses, with almost insignificant sentences. Shoplifters stand to make a lot of money by stealing merchandise and then re-selling it. Any fines the courts impose are usually minimal, so it is just a cost of doing business for them.

So, anybody want to weigh in? What do you think? Are shoplifters really just sick people who need help? Or, are they criminals who deserve harsher penalties from the courts?

A Utica woman who has been arrested 23 times under eight different names was charged following a shoplifting incident at the Kids Deal store on Monday, police said.

Woman with 23 arrests charged with shoplifting – Utica, NY – The Observer-Dispatch

Technorati Tags: shoplifters,repeat offenders,multiple arrests,courts,overloaded,illness,criminals,retail crime,loss prevention

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