I was looking for "Hooked on Phonics" for my daughter this Christmas as my wife and I entered our local bookstore chain. In the kids section, she quickly located it and as she took it off the shelf she noticed something familiar. Seeing the peculiar familiarity she looked at me and immediately said, "It's marked". I instantly knew that her comment about the package being marked did not mean it was discounted, but rather it had been selected to be a stolen article in the immediate future. If you guessed that my wife is a police officer, you're right. Like her brothers and sisters in blue, she intuitively detects when criminal activity is afoot.
While the general public looks forward to the holidays and all the nostalgia it brings, crooks and thieves view this period of time as an opportunity to pillage, while cops and loss prevention agents view the season as, well, "The Silly Season." Goofs are out in force. Not everyone is merry or cheerful. The news media pounds us daily with dire reports that life as we know it is getting harder for everyone nearly every day. Increases in gas and food prices, climbing tax rates while dwindling employment opportunities further creates that divide between the "haves" and the "have nots". Nothing in life, good or bad, is without consequence though, and as of recent not much good seems to be coming out of Washington, D.C. Criminologists fear that as our gross national product weakens, certain crimes will be on the rise.
"As Economy Dips, Arrests for Shoplifting Soar", read the title of an article in The New York Times (December 22nd, 2008). According to the article, police agencies nationwide have reported there is a 10-20% increase in shoplifting arrests this year compared to last. The article also provides a unique insight to our current economic woes by highlighting a new profile of the offender accounting for the offense increase: those laid-off and without a prior criminal record. In other words, the motivation for shoplifting does not appear to be good old fashioned greed, but rather the simple desire to make ends meet.
True and complete blame for shoplifting cannot be placed totally on the offender. The fact is, merchants sometimes make thieving way too easy and attractive. Think about this for a moment: high value, or highly desired, merchandise too close to the front entrance allowing for a quick getaway. No visible physical security in any form. Or, my favorite, among others, a store policy that stipulates that offender will not be prosecuted no matter how many times he or she is caught.
Several years ago an adjoining jurisdiction to ours experienced a flood of shoplifting arrests when a specific retail chain sent in their special anti-shoplifting unit to make an impact at a certain store that was being routinely targeted by thieves. The undercover store detectives were very good at what they did; they make a lot of arrests. Problem was they never shared their proactive enforcement plans with the police agency that served that area. Imagine being one of the three patrol officers working that day having to physically process eleven shoplifters, in addition to answering other calls.
In lieu of this incident, and others similar that I am sure you can account for, how much easier would our lives be as law enforcement if store security or corporate loss prevention agents worked in tandem with police crime prevention officers to combat shoplifting through cooperative strategies? After all, it's everybody's problem in the end. Is there an answer?
Look no further when contemplating to reinvent the wheel. Ideas for anti-shoplifting measures for police and security personnel exist through a short text, titled "Shoplifting, Guide No. 11" by Ronald V. Clarke, through the Center for Problem Oriented Policing. Although brief, the guide serves as a framework to deciphering what retail theft reduction strategies have the best chance at working. Physical security controls such as employing guards to CCTV, through employee screening and inventory practices are thoroughly evaluated in terms of effectiveness. Creative aspects to alleviate the strain on law enforcement for having to process a shoplifter, such as allowing loss prevention agents the authority to issue a summons in lieu of arrest, were also reviewed. The point is, it's a short read that is packed full of common sense and not-so-common sense ways and means to efficiently, while being effective, deal with the shoplifting dilemma.
As you know all to well, we do not have all the time in the world to waste responding to repeat calls for service. Shoplifting calls, just to name one category of service activity that diminishes police resources, are problematic and serve as a chronic service drain. Times are rough, and every indication through economic forecasting is that things will get far worse than anything we've seen over the last 80 years. There has to be a better way to provide quality police service while at the same time retaining as much time, money, equipment, personnel, etc., for when we really need it. Coordinating policing efforts with private security is a start. I'm guessing though they won't come to us. We must go to them first. What are you waiting for?