STRICTLY BUSINESS: SHOPLIFTING: BIG PROBLEM FOR RETAILERS

Watching merchandise disappear from shelves is good news for merchants -- unless it's shoplifters who make it disappear.

U.S. businessmen lose more than $30 billion to shoplifters each year, and that figure could be higher. National statistics indicate retailers lose a nickel of every dollar in sales from shoplifting.

With Cape Girardeau County retail sales amounting to more than $500 million a year, merchandise lost for local retailers amounts to more than $2 million a year.

"Shoplifting is not an easy problem to deal with," said Cape Girardeau policeman Kevin Orr.

Orr will be guest speaker at a special seminar on shoplifting and bad checks, employee theft and robbery.

The seminar, sponsored by the Cape Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Development Committee, will be held Nov. 2 at Bessie's Restaurant, from 8:30 to noon.

Orr is one of three key speakers at the seminar. Other speakers will be Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle and Alan Foust, a former law enforcement officer and owner of QPI Security.

The seminar is designed for small business and retail owners, managers and employees.

The holiday season is approaching and statistics bear out that shoplifting activity is usually heavier in November and December.

"There are more people out, so there is a greater chance for theft," said Orr.

Shoplifting cases are listed under the stealing category in county and municipal cases.

It is difficult to say whether shoplifting is up or down, but Swingle said the majority of stealing cases filed with the prosecutor's office are shoplifting.

"About 10 percent of all our cases involve shoplifting and stealing," added Swingle. "Generally, the judges in our county make the offenders serve time in jail."

Many retail shoplifters here go undetected or unreported. Some retailers hesitate to file charges for fear of harming the store's image, or for lawsuits charging false arrests.

Retailers need to be 100 percent certain suspects have taken merchandise before they stop them, agree Swingle and Orr.

The law does allow retailers to stop anyone suspected of shoplifting, in the store, or outside the building, but stopping a customer who has not stolen anything can be bad for business.

Take the case of Jane Doe, who still remembers a 1980 incident in which she was accused of stealing.

The name is fictitious, but the experience was very real.

"I had three weeks of misery," said Doe, "And by that time, some of my friends and neighbors were beginning to look at me with questionable glances."

Doe was shopping in a local store and had checked out and was outside on the parking lot when she was approached by the store's manager, who informed her she would have to accompany him back into the store.

"I think you've stolen something," he said.

"He was very impolite, and when I protested, he just said I would have to go with him anyway," she said.

"The whole thing was a nightmare," she said. "First a ride to the police station, then being charged, then waiting until the case could appear in court."

The determination was that she was innocent, but the incident brought "overwhelming fear" to her, and neither she nor her family members have visited the store since.

In Doe's case, she had purchased $60 worth of merchandise.

"The checker had missed a small toy in the bottom of the basket," said Doe. "That was her mistake...I would probably have found it while putting the sacks in the truck, and I would have returned it. But I was stopped before I got to my vehicle, and charged with taking a small toy."

This was an unfortunate incident, and one that should have been prevented.

One store manager said his sales force is instructed to be absolutely certain a person has intentionally taken an item before intervening. "And, we have never had a bad stop," added the store manager.

"We will talk about shoplifting and what can be done about it during the seminar," said Swingle. "We'll discuss what the law is and the immunity it gives concerning merchants' criminal liability.

A Missouri law permits retailers to stop people in reference to a suspected shoplifting.

In part, the revised state statue, 537, 125, states:

"In Missouri, any merchant or employer who has reasonable grounds, or probable cause, to suspect that a person is concealing merchandise may detain such persons in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time. Any such reasonable action by the merchant should not render the merchant criminally liable."

Elsewhere the law states that a person willfully concealing merchandise, whether on the premise or outside of a store, shall be presumed to have so concealed merchandise with the intention of taking it.

Most retailers accept shoplifting as a part of doing business, but many different security methods are used to deter shoplifters.

An aggressive sales force can help in a store, noted Orr. "When sales clerks give personal service to each customer, it lets a potential shoplifter know that the sales staff knows they are in the store. Shoplifters usually want to remain unnoticed."

Other security measures that have been somewhat successful include two-way mirrors, cameras and plainclothes personnel.

"I've been impressed by security people in most stores," said Swingle. "I can't ever remember a `bad stop' coming up for prosecution.'

One of the big precautions these days is to use electronic tags that sound an alarm if they are taken through an exit without being removed.

Although these systems won't solve the shoplifting problem they may give retailers an edge in the continuing battle with shoplifting.

There are different kinds of shoplifters, Orr and Swingle explained.

For some people, it may be a one-time thing -- somebody wanted something so badly they took a chance.

"These people usually get caught," said Orr. Then "you have the professional shoplifter who make a habit of it. They're tougher to catch."

"We will track the professionals," added Swingle, "and when we do catch them, it'll be time served. We want them to know that they can't come into our town and steal from our merchants."

Almost 3 million Americans are charged with shoplifting year.