Shoplifters should be defeated, but towns need to be realistic about how much in police resources to devote to this one crime.
'Tis the season when most retailers ring up a large portion of their sales, but also the season when shoplifters take a big bite from profits. To that end, Gloucester Township police just announced a new push against the "takers."
According to Police Chief Harry Earle, his department has been using social media to post photos of suspected shoplifters. It's a bit of a sticky privacy and liability issue, but Earle believes that the publicity has reduced shoplifting incidents.
At a pre-Thanksgiving press conference, Earle and Mayor David Mayer outlined an added strategy by designating a detective whose job is the newly created title of "retail patrol officer." He will patrol stores, look for frequent shoplifters and build relationships with businesses. Suspects deemed to have boosted merchandise due to drug addiction will be referred to the department's SAVE (Substance Abuse Victimization Effort) program.
All well and good, but when it's learned that the township expects a 29 percent decrease this year in shoplifting cases -- before the stepped-up patrols -- it makes make one wonder how much in public safety resources should be devoted to this single crime.
Shoplifters do raise prices on goods because sellers must cover the cost of "shrinkage." At the same time, shoplifters don't really "Take Everybody's Money" as the old "STEM" acronym claimed. If you do all your shopping online, you aren't affected much. Holiday customers at brick-and-mortar shopping venues are more worried about being assaulted in the parking lot, or having their cars stolen. This is not as frequent as retail theft but, if it happens to you, you've been victimized personally.
If police forces are already as vigilant as possible to stop crimes against shoppers, it's OK to have a "shoplifting officer." If not, local governments should tell stores to supply added security on their own.
RELATED: Deptford adopts new shoplifting enforcement ordinance
Some businesses aren't interested enough in putting away shoplifters to follow through. Last year, Deptford Township enacted an ordinance that fines stores $250 each time, after two incidents a month, that police are called out to process a shoplifting suspect -- but store officials fail to appear in court or otherwise decline prosecution. Mayor Paul Medany said in April 2014 that the township acted because barely 400 of the 2,000 annual shoplifting calls to police result in prosecution.
"I feel very strongly, personally, that the big box retailers have to provide security, cameras and loss prevention officers," he said. "You've got to protect your store better."
We agreed with Medany's view in a 2014 editorial: "Stores should let their own personnel handle the whole episode if they don't plan to press charges. Cops have more important things to do for taxpayers than act as a "Scared Straight" brigade for thieves whom stores intend to let walk."
That's still true, and it should guide how South Jersey police departments allocate resources against shoplifting.
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