What does a shoplifter look like?
John Maher's email began in the style of a personal ad:
"Professional, graduate, aged 61, tall, good-looking(-ish), casually dressed (joggers, cycle gear, flat cap, etc), wearing a backpack with my laptop and books...."
John's GSOH fails him, however, when he enters a shop and feels that security guards are subjecting him to close scrutiny.
"I find it very, very insulting. What to do? Normally, I buy the goods I intended to buy, pay for them, and then leave the shop without taking them."
Comparing notes with his colleagues, John found that other people are often so annoyed by the attentions of store security staff that they will dump their shopping and exit.
John says that given the economic climate, shops should be more welcoming to paying customers. iPM phoned the Centre for Retail Research, which says that shoplifting is on the up. It estimates that there were about 9% more thefts in the 2008 pre-Christmas period compared to last year. Researchers suggest that retailers will be more vigilant.
Share what you know about shoplifting. Are you a magnet for store detectives? Are you a shop keeper or security guard with a story to tell?
Email us
Our Twitter
Join our Facebook group
Listen to iPM
Technorati
Google
Ice Rocket
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~58~RS~)
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.
My sources tell me that professional shoplifters don't browse around in shops. They know what they want, go in, get it, get out.
Complain about this comment
Like, for example, the radio and television personality Lady Isobel Barnett, whom many of "us" will remember. Very sad...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobel_Barnett
"In 1980, she was found guilty of shoplifting, being fined for stealing a can of tuna and a carton of cream worth 87p from her village grocer..."
And, like me, like you. Like everyone. And that's the problem shop-keepers/stores face.
One thing some stores do when "they" see a "known" shop-lifter is phone a store "neighbourhood-watch" type number giving description details etc and all shops within the area receive immediate automatic notification.
So, if one happens to resemble the description...
I'm told, security firm employees are also given "Profiling" training and receive up-to-the-minute descriptions of thieves known to be active in the area.
Anyway, shop/store theft is a MAJOR problem and, as ever, the (thieving) few, cause problems for everyone and it doesn't look as though things are going to improve any time soon.
Complain about this comment
As a security guard and having worked numerous retail establishments, I would like to think that nobody in particular get overly close scrutiny without reason, however I find many many many different things can spark your attention towards somebody, anything from dress, manner and of course each store has 'hit' items normally small and pocketable. Next time an individual finds unwelcome security attention, look around and wonder why 1st, I mean after all the guard wont be doing it for fun it's making more work for them.
Complain about this comment
Our local paper reported a case recently where an 80 year old woman was arrested for shoplifting. When she went before the judge he asked her, "What did you steal?"
She replied, "A can of peaches."
The judge asked her why she had stolen them and she replied that she was hungry. The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can. She replied "6."
The judge then said, "I will give you 6 days in jail."
At this point the woman's husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something.
The judge said, "What is it?"
The husband said "She also stole a can of peas!"
Complain about this comment
QL 4
Great!
And, of course, the husband was only trying to help his wife. After all, jail's probably a "safe" place to be given what's happening outside...
Complain about this comment
QL 4
Really Great!
Complain about this comment
Sid 1, I discovered when I was young that if you shoplifted in pairs, it was harder to keep an eye on you in small shops. I carried a hollowed-out book with a school book cover on it. I'll admit that automobiles wouldn't fit in it, but I never got caught.
Complain about this comment
Speaking of the dyslexia thread, a man was recently arrested for saying he was a shoplifter. He meant to say that he was a shopfitter.
Complain about this comment
QL 4, Whole or mushy peas?
Complain about this comment
We also used to pretend that we were shoplifting. Got thrown out of several shops for that.
My friend delivered newspapers and took his delivery bag to school with him. After school, we went behind a shop and filled his bag with empty pop bottles then took them inside and got the refund.
I hope no kiddies are reading this.
This was all in the US, so beyond the long arm of the law here. Just a sec, there is someone at the door....
Complain about this comment
Oops, can't talk about your misspent youth here (7) (It was all true.). I can see 10 disappearing as well.
Complain about this comment
Maybe I should have told it as a joke.
Complain about this comment
David. The NAt west three got extradited so be careful what you confess!!!
Complain about this comment
SM 13, As all of the shopkeepers I was talking about are now probably dead, there are no witnesses. And, the shops are long gone.
Whoever stole my 7 returned it.
Complain about this comment
I always feel very self conscious when walking past the store security. But I'm prepared for the day if I do get stopped, because I will cause such a scene. And if they ask to inspect my bags, I will insist on the Police being present. Also if the guard tries to touch me, I will make it very plain that I consider their actions as an assault on my person and react in self defence if they attempt it again.
Complain about this comment
l22 15, My friend and I were stopped when we were pretending to shoplift and became very indignent. They threw us out and said not to come back.
Complain about this comment
Shoplifting its a nightmare for every business owner, the worst is sometimes the burglar are your own employees!
Complain about this comment
While I'm not a shoplifter, I currently look particularly 'unappealing' ('Wild Welsh Man', a photo might make it plainer) however, I can hold my own in discussion/argument and have a distinctly un-local accent (as I was brought up on the south coast, but spent some time in boarding school and then went off to college).
I have never felt 'under scrutiny' in the last 20 years, though when I was in my twenties and visiting Toronto, I was 'moved on' from OUTSIDE a shopping centre one Sunday morning around 10:30 (no one else around, it was mid March and fairly 'cold' {think: Canada})
I guess it may have been my Poundstretcher {airline - this was mid-80s} bag with a British Bulldog on the end!
Complain about this comment
Has your initial correspondant ever asked why he keeps getting 'fingered'? Because if it's in more than one shop, the only common factor in the equation is him.
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS