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Shoplifting is the leading crime concern for those in the retail store industry. In fact, theft from stores, including employee, customer and vendor theft, cost retailers many billions of dollars per year. Many stores have even gone out of business due to their inability to control retail theft losses. And the costs of these losses are often passed on to the consumer. This is but one of the primary reasons that most storeowners carry some type of insurance for their retail stores. There are a growing number of people who make their living by stealing from retail stores, however most shoplifters are amateurs. While many amateur shoplifters can be highly skilled, stealing almost every day, they don't generally do it to make a living. Most amateurs are opportunistic, quite crude in their methods, and are often easily detected. On the other hand, professional shoplifters run the gamut from being highly skilled to engaging in violent, criminal-like behavior. Some professionals work in teams or use elaborate distraction scenarios. The crude professionals sometimes use force and fear, much like gang intimidation, and often commit grab-and-run thefts. They are very difficult to stop in a society where retail stores openly display their merchandise to the public. Profile of a shoplifter 1.Shoplifters vary in ethnic background, education, and economic status. 2.Some shoplifters steal for the excitement, some steal out of desire, some steal for need, some steal out of peer pressure, and some steal simply as a business transaction. 3.Some shoplifters are compulsive, some opportunistic, and some are mentally ill. 4.Many shoplifters steal to support a drug addiction, alcoholism, or to survive living on the street. 5.Children and elderly persons sometime steal without realizing they are committing a crime. 6.Most shoplifters try to rationalize their crime by thinking that large retailers can afford the loss. In urban cities, it is not unusual to find a network that send out teams of shoplifters into specific stores to shoplift specific items, much like filling an order for a customer. They may also provide training on how to steal and defeat the anti-theft technology many merchants use. Some networks have been known to bail their workers out of jail when caught or provide for their legal defense. How to prevent shoplifting In addition to carrying retail stores insurance, many merchants have had to take some extreme measures to control shoplifting. Most large retailers employ plain-clothes floor detectives to observe customers as they shop. Many stores use video surveillance cameras Others secure expensive and high theft items like small leather items, perfume, cosmetics, tools, liquor, or cigarettes in locked enclosures, while other retailers use cables or hanger locks that require the assistance of a sales associate to unlock the expensive item of clothing before it can be worn or inspected.
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