Stores deal with thefts seriously

In the minute it might take a reader to shake out the front section of this newspaper, take a sip of coffee and read this paragraph, 600 people shoplifted $20,000 worth of merchandise in the United States.

Retailers and those involved with loss prevention say shoplifting is on the rise, currently costing the American public more than $33 billion a year, according to a National Retail Security survey. Costs are passed on to the customers who do pay for merchandise, according to the survey.

Whether a business employs a staff of floorwalkers or invests in high-tech equipment to canvass the store's aisles, what might matter most is what happens after a shoplifter is apprehended. In some communities, and in some stores, shoplifters are not dealt with severely.

"My understanding is a lot of stores could get much tougher about it," said Dr. John Wade, a professor of criminal justice at Southeast Missouri State University.

Locally, shoplifting is treated seriously, said Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

"I think sometimes shoplifters who come here from other states are shocked by the sentences they get," he said.

Swingle recalled one recent shoplifter who had been arrested several times in different cities and had always gotten either probation or a slap on the wrist. Then she tried shoplifting in Cape Girardeau County.

"I could hear her screaming out in the hallway she was so shocked she actually was going to jail," Swingle said.

Shoplifting is a class A misdemeanor carrying a penalty of one day to one year in the county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. If the amount stolen is more than $500, or if the person accused has at least two prior convictions for stealing, then it becomes a class C felony carrying a punishment of one to seven years in prison, or one day to one year in the county jail, and/or a fine of up to $5,000.Local retailers almost always press charges when a shoplifter is caught. Shoplifters are also banned from returning to the store. If they return and are caught stealing again, trespassing is added to another shoplifting charge.

Prevention difficult

Still, retailers and law enforcement personnel seem to be spinning their wheels when it comes to curtailing shoplifting. For all their efforts at prevention, those who deal with it say that every year it seems to get worse.

"It's like crime prevention," said Wade. "The police know they can't stop every crime, but they can stop some of them."

Taking a hard line in the courtroom helps. So does taking a strong approach in the marketplace.

"Fifteen or 20 years ago, no store had a loss prevention program," Wade said. "Now all have at least part-time if not full-time people."

Some train their employees. Others have uniformed security personnel who make themselves visible and, according to Swingle, are not as restricted as police officers are in making an apprehension. Private security officers don't have to read a suspect his Miranda rights. A confession is admissible in court, Swingle said.

He has written a booklet, "Using Force to Detain Shoplifters," which is available to any business in the area. In it, Swingle outlines the steps merchants who apprehend a shoplifter can take until the police arrive.

Some businesses like Schnucks have taken a high-tech approach. Manager Dennis Marchi said his store catches four or five shoplifters a week through a camera system he says paid for itself in the first year.

Jim Olson is in charge of loss prevention for Wal-Mart at the district level in Carbondale, Ill. Olson also has worked in security for other large retailers and is familiar with their methods. Some stores, Olson said, have floor walkers in plainclothes. Some use a combination of methods. Some attach electronic tags to their merchandise that will set off an alarm when the thief passes through the exit.

Some businesses, such as Famous-Barr, don't want to talk about their loss prevention methods so as not to make them apparent to shoplifters.

No typical shoplifter

All are looking for shoplifters and are hampered by the fact that there really is no typical shoplifter. Shoplifters are teenagers, housewives, children, elderly people and anyone in between. Of the shoplifters caught at Schnucks, Marchi said 98 percent have enough money with them to pay for what they were caught stealing.

"In the 34 years I have been doing this, I only had two people say they had stolen because they did not have any money and were starving," he said. "The items they took were lunch meat and bread."

Olson said stores who employ loss prevention personnel teach them not to look for a certain type of person but to look for certain behavior, such as how they place items in a shopping cart or whether they avoid eye contact with store personnel.

According to Wade, the professor, some juveniles look at shoplifting as a rite of passage to see if they can get away with it. For others, it's a business and "getting caught is part of business," he said. "A lot of shoplifters will tell you they think they can bluff their way out of it."

Swingle recalled a fellow lawyer who was caught first with a 12-pack of soda. He got away with saying he forgot to pay for it.

"The same lawyer got caught a few months later at Sears," Swingle said. "He ended up getting convicted."

No typical theft

Just as there is no stereotypical shoplifter, there also is no stereotypical theft. Olson said smaller items, such as cell phones and cameras, and the most popular consumer items, such as DVDs and DVD players, are most frequently lifted. Swingle said young people frequently steal name-brand clothing. He said some adults also hide stolen items on their children.

Schnucks loses a lot in health and beauty aids and meat. Cartons of cigarettes are popular with thieves who sell them for about $10 a carton on the street. Baby formula and diapers are frequently stolen, Marchi said, not because people need them but because they're easy to sell on the street.

Until businesses began making it less accessible, Sudafed was frequently stolen because it is an ingredient in methamphetamine production.

Some steal because they can, some because it's a quick way to make enough money to support a drug habit. Marchi recently caught a shoplifter stealing cigarette lighters and meat. She told him she stole from Schnucks because someone stole something from her a couple of years ago.

"Sometimes they just want to see if they can get away with it," he said.

Whatever the reason for stealing, Marchi said, shoplifters nabbed at Schnucks all have one thing in common.

"They all say, 'Please don't put my name in the Southeast Missourian.'"

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160