Shoplifting on the rise

[Magnus McGinty]

I remember being followed enthusiastically through Morrisons when I marched through the store with a crate of beer on my shoulder which ceased when I reached the till.
Also around a mini Tesco because I had a big laundry bag with me (the launderette was a few doors away).

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Misread the thread title as shoplifting on ice - that would make a great TV game show.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

They do random checks where they scan 3 items on the scab tills at sainsburys near me. So i guess they could also do that at the gate?

Not seen anything like that in shops - maybe they trial stuff like that in different parts of the country.

But I've no problem with people nicking food if they're skint.

 

[Elohim]

The more the cost of living goes up the more shoplifting will increase.

 

[TopCat]

I can both sympathise with the plight of the desperate and get the total arse when they are being cunts to staff and smashing stuff.

 

[Elohim]

I can both sympathise with the plight of the desperate and get the total arse when they are being cunts to staff and smashing stuff.

Unfortunately desperate people do desperate things which can cause spikes in mental health issues.

 

[TopCat]

Unfortunately desperate people do desperate things which can cause spikes in mental health issues.

Yeah, they attack the staff in front of me and I can’t sleep.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

The more the cost of living goes up the more shoplifting will increase.

And you'll see more of this, as well when law enforcement can't cope with the volume of incidents:

Sikh store owner goes viral for beating armed robber with stick in California

A Sikh store owner has gone viral on social media for fighting off an armed robber attempting to steal a trash can full of cigarettes at a 7-Eleven in California. The viral incident: In a video circulating on social media, a thief whose face is concealed with a blue cloth can be seen rummaging...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Elohim]

And you'll see more of this, as well when law enforcement can't cope with the volume of incidents:

Sikh store owner goes viral for beating armed robber with stick in California

A Sikh store owner has gone viral on social media for fighting off an armed robber attempting to steal a trash can full of cigarettes at a 7-Eleven in California. The viral incident: In a video circulating on social media, a thief whose face is concealed with a blue cloth can be seen rummaging...

www.yahoo.com

Yes going to get worse before it gets better .

 

[kenny g]

Yes going to get worse before it gets better .

That's hardly a case of shoplifting though.

 

[Gramsci]

On shoplifting and staff in shops.

On underground ( in London) Im noticing increasing number of people pushing through the barriers without swiping. ie not paying. Not surprised as its getting so expensive. Staff on station do not intervene. This seems sensible to me. Clearly Station staff have been told or their union has made clear they are not their to enforce payment.

TBF in my time dealing with security guards some of them love their job and cant wait to get stuck into confrontation with shop lifters.

Their is doing the job and how to do it.

 

[krtek a houby]

Yes going to get worse before it gets better .

Is it going to get better?

 

[Elohim]

Is it going to get better?

Hopefully but I'm becoming more more pessimistic.

 

[Elohim]

Is it going to get better?

Hopefully but I'm becoming more more pessimistic

That's hardly a case of shoplifting though.

Yes true but if people are driven into abject poverty and basic necessities are not met ie putting meal on table then yes it's a case for shoplifting.

 

[kenny g]

Hopefully but I'm becoming more more pessimistic

Yes true but if people are driven into abject poverty and basic necessities are not met ie putting meal on table then yes it's a case for shoplifting.

Filling a bin up with packets of cigarettes whilst threatening staff with a knife is not shop lifting. It is robbery. You are making massive assumptions about the robber's motivations and lifestyle. It removes agency from him to make those assumptions. For all we know he may be proud of his actions and object to any description of his life being "abject".

 

[klang]

ry.

 

[Elohim]

Filling a bin up with packets of cigarettes whilst threatening staff with a knife is not shop lifting. It is robbery. You are making massive assumptions about the robber's motivations and lifestyle. It removes agency from him to make those assumptions. For all we know he may be proud of his actions and object to any description of his life being "abject".

Yes that is robbery. So many variables when it comes to shop lifting.
We have the one's doing it to support family and we have others who do it for personal gain.

 

[kenny g]

Yes that is robbery. So many variables when it comes to shop lifting.
We have the one's doing it to support family and we have others who do it for personal gain.

Are you now trying to claim that armed robbery is a subset of shoplifting? Try your luck with that position with people serving 14 year sentences .... Fool.

 

[NoXion]

Threatening shop workers with the prospect of violence is definitely a serious escalation, and it should not be trivialised by comparing it to shoplifting.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Threatening shop workers with the prospect of violence is definitely a serious escalation, and it should not be trivialised by comparing it to shoplifting.

You're absolutely right. This is an escalation that shouldn't be trivialized and should receive larger penalties than lifting a couple cans of food because you're hungry.

 

[hitmouse]

Is this the right thread for the Oxford Street/Southend tiktok shoplifters?

Fears TikTok shoplifting rampage craze to spread to south London and Essex this weekend after Oxford Street chaos

Shopkeepers and residents of parts of south London and Essex are bracing for the worst this weekend amid fears that the social media shoplifting trend that struck Oxford Street could spread.

www.lbc.co.uk

 

[LDC]

Is this the right thread for the Oxford Street/Southend tiktok shoplifters?

Fears TikTok shoplifting rampage craze to spread to south London and Essex this weekend after Oxford Street chaos

Shopkeepers and residents of parts of south London and Essex are bracing for the worst this weekend amid fears that the social media shoplifting trend that struck Oxford Street could spread.

www.lbc.co.uk

No, it belongs in the things that make you feel old thread.

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

No, it belongs in the things that make you feel old thread.

can't run off with the loot anymore?

 

[krtek a houby]

can't run off with the loot anymore?

Can't carry the stripey jumper look anymore

 

[InArduisFouette]

Thanks for clarifying. Dunno if it’s just my friend’s description of it not being totally accurate - what I wrote was pretty much word for word - or if it’s a dated policy, cos this was maybe 15 years ago.

Would managers of individual stores be able to impose random docking of xmas bonuses like this?

depends of the structure of the bonus scheme - if it's none contractural then on a divisional / regional/area basis it can be canned just like that for spurious reasons

you can also do it on an individual and team basis depending on how the PDR process is structured

 

[InArduisFouette]

What's happened with the tills at my local wilko is really weird. Pre covid they all used to be manned and now they're not. Instead they're card only but still have the exact same software system as the one till that's manned.

So one till is manned and there's usually a big queue for it where as the rest aren't and instead one incredibly bored looking employee sits and looks at you whilst giving you instructions from several feet away if you pause even for a brief moment. You have to physically pick up a scan gun and scan the goods yourself. I'm literally doing their job for them while they watch me do it. I could understand it from a cost saving point of view but I don't think they've made any staff cuts, maybe one or two but not many.

But that is Wilko , and the light of last week's news we know why Wilko has gone to ratshit , everything that has happened with Wilko in the past year ( or more) have been the death rattles and circling the drain ...

 

[InArduisFouette]

Not in terms of prioritising it as a 999 call. They'll interview staff after, take descriptions etc, crime will be geolocated so that might create a response if there are repeats ie local neighbourhood police might be tasked for passing attention or reassurance checks at specific times etc. Most small shop/convenience shop shoplifters are local or target specific locations.

Don't go using facts about Policing on urban you'll upset the locals

 

[The39thStep]

Don't go using facts about Policing on urban you'll upset the locals

Ta. I'll bear that in mind

 

[existentialist]

I think the shoplifting they're talking about (at least in the US) isn't just one or two people lifting a few things they need. The real issue is organized theft gangs that go in en masse and take entire racks of clothes, or breaks all the glass and jewelry cases and take everything. We had an Ultra store raided in this way twice in two weeks. Each time they took tens of thousands of merch. They waited just long enough for the store to restock and hit it again. Then, they resell it online, at flea markets, etc. This is more organized crime than petty theft:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/business/retail-theft-shoplifting-robbery/index.html

TBH, I think those incidents are comparatively rare in the overall spectrum of shoplifting, and probably don't even constitute the bulk of the value of goods taken from shops (what is euphemistically referred to in the trade as "shrinkage", although that covers other losses too).

We are in a position in this country where supermarkets have started putting security tags on containers of baby formula, which suggests to me that their losses of such things is significant enough that they are prepared to devote resources to preventing them being stolen. The underlying question is "why would ANYONE steal baby formula if not for the reason that they needed it, and couldn't afford to pay for it?".

I think we would be in danger, if we put our focus on the high-profile raids, of characterising all shoplifting as being motivated by the same thing, while it must surely be the case that bulk theft of high-value items is clearly a purely criminal activity, while losses of low-value items such as food and baby formula must necessarily be about something else.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

We are in a position in this country where supermarkets have started putting security tags on containers of baby formula, which suggests to me that their losses of such things is significant enough that they are prepared to devote resources to preventing them being stolen. The underlying question is "why would ANYONE steal baby formula if not for the reason that they needed it, and couldn't afford to pay for it?".

I think it's a mix of need and organized theft. Laundry soap and baby formula are easily traded items for cash. For a while the dollar value of baby formula was high because there was a massive shortage when the main manufacturer in the US was shut down for not cleaning their equipment. A lot of the video you see is several people loading up entire carts of the stuff and walking out. Someone who just needs formula wouldn't load up entire carts of it. They'd take two or three cans, hide it under their shirt, and hope for the best as they walked out. I don't view someone taking a can or two as a major problem, except as it shows that massive increase in poverty out there that isn't being addressed. I see the mass theft of high-ticket items as an issue, because they don't care about the basic terms of trust society needs to function. Masses of people will pull away from retail business and shift toward Amazon, etc. and the retail areas will become ghost towns or places the cops fear to go (It's has already happened in some places). Incidentally, unaddressed poverty and wealth inequality are also eroding the basic levels of trust society needs to function, but that's a different thread.