NBC Report On The Surge In Retail Thefts Aired 7/10/21

Saw this story and was amazed. Basically the law says walk into any store, take what you want as long as you don't exceed $950. Police will not respond since it is only a misdemeanor.

Wonder if you are allowed to use sale prices when figuring your allowable limit.
 

Our mayor & police chief just announced a big task force to try to prevent retail theft/shop lifting. They are focusing on the big box & home improvement stores here where people are actually walking out with “big boxes”. Of course we are still reading in the am paper about the shootings every night, and armed robbers hitting & holding up small stores, but heaven forbid that Lowe’s & HD should suffer. I’m so tired of it all. Crazy priorities.
 
Geezerette said:
Our mayor & police chief just announced a big task force to try to prevent retail theft/shop lifting. They are focusing on the big box & home improvement stores here where people are actually walking out with “big boxes”. Of course we are still reading in the am paper about the shootings every night, and armed robbers hitting & holding up small stores, but heaven forbid that Lowe’s & HD should suffer. I’m so tired of it all. Crazy priorities.
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When I see the words "big task force" being announced by pandering politicians, it usually means "a big task" to be met with "little real force".,
 
Don M. said:
The end result is that stores will begin to close down in the affected areas, and honest consumers will wind up paying more. If this continues, it may be necessary for the stores to hire armed security guards.
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They already are closing in San Francisco. Everyone will pay the price for their loss in the end I'm afraid. Dang shame what's happening. PPL need to stop voting in these politicians and judges allowing this kind of thing.
 
JonDouglas said:
No, this is what happens when you don't enforce the laws. Aside from misguided voters, police and politicians; many DAs can be blamed for not prosecuting minor crimes, which amounts to an open invitation to steal..
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That seems to be the new normal in the big cities, like New York and L.A. these days. Prosecutors and D.A.'s are letting felons out of jail and not prosecuting anyone that has committed a misdemeanor or low grade felony.
 
I've lived or worked in areas where small stuff had to be locked up for years. We had a new supermarket and they closed about 4 years later, they had remodeled the property etc but they wound having to lock up diapers, Tide, forumula and other misc items. Customers waiting for those items to be unlocked creates lines and ties up employees.

I've heard and seen stolen stuff online but to me the person buying like 4 packs of toothpaste from one individual has to know it's probably not legit. Even in open air/flea market type settings.
 
Sunny said:
I read somewhere that the supermarkets know people often steal when checking out their own groceries, but it is still cheaper for the store than hiring additional checkout clerks. Unbelievable!
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Not unbelievable when you think of their markup on items. They're a business not a charity. And retailers expect "shrinkage" so customers are already paying for those who shoplift. It costs money to take culprits to trial so they usually settle out of court. It also costs too much to hire additional help. I'm not condoning it. Just saying.
 
Since the pandemic, hardly anyone shops in department stores any more. In fact, department stores and malls may well be a thing of the past. But going back a few years, I got totally disgusted by the lack of sales help and checkout counters in the stores. At one J.C. Penney's, they had one checkout counter for an entire floor of women's clothing! You had to hunt for it. And once at a Macy's, when it took forever to find the checkout counter and then a long wait in line, it occurred to me that it would be easier to just steal the damn thing! (I didn't, of course, but I bet other people did, for that reason. It's shouldn't be an ordeal to buy something.)

No wonder Amazon is doing so well!
 
I first noticed the lack of sales staff at Sears at least 30 years ago. Walked out, leaving a pile of merchandise at a cash register several times, because there was no staff anywhere in sight. Today they all but gone. While there are still some Sears stores in neighboring communities, all the Sears stores in Los Angeles (second largest city in the country) have closed.

The real shame of it all is that Sears could easily have become what Amazon has become. They had been doing mail order for a century, sold nearly everything, and had distribution centers in place. All they needed to do was pay attention to what was happening in the marketplace and tweak their advertising toward online sales.
 
raybar said:
I first noticed the lack of sales staff at Sears at least 30 years ago. Walked out, leaving a pile of merchandise at a cash register several times, because there was no staff anywhere in sight. Today they all but gone. While there are still some Sears stores in neighboring communities, all the Sears stores in Los Angeles (second largest city in the country) have closed.

The real shame of it all is that Sears could easily have become what Amazon has become. They had been doing mail order for a century, sold nearly everything, and had distribution centers in place. All they needed to do was pay attention to what was happening in the marketplace and tweak their advertising toward online sales.
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I think you're right about Sears. Back in they day, they sold just about everything, including houses, and also delivered like Amazon does today.
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Prices will continue to rise, for those of us that still pay for our purchases, and places to shop will continue to dwindle as stores continue to close due to uncontrolled theft. The really sad part is these thieves have no self respect, without self respect, how can they respect anyone or anything else? Truly sad times we're living in but the future is bright with colonies on Mars inching toward reality! Don...
 
raybar said:
I first noticed the lack of sales staff at Sears at least 30 years ago. Walked out, leaving a pile of merchandise at a cash register several times, because there was no staff anywhere in sight. Today they all but gone. While there are still some Sears stores in neighboring communities, all the Sears stores in Los Angeles (second largest city in the country) have closed.

The real shame of it all is that Sears could easily have become what Amazon has become. They had been doing mail order for a century, sold nearly everything, and had distribution centers in place. All they needed to do was pay attention to what was happening in the marketplace and tweak their advertising toward online sales.
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When Sears were around many of them had to lock things up like 3 dollar sockets and screw drivers. A lot of auto stores put hook locks on their tools so to pull them off still requires an employee.

Theft has also lead to hassle based instead of hassle free returns. I wanted to exhange an item for size at Home Depot with a receipt and would still have been treated like a thief because they wanted drivers license info, address etc(I ate the cost and boycotted them for a while)and but these stores now track serial returners because of theft.
 
Don M. said:
The end result is that stores will begin to close down in the affected areas, and honest consumers will wind up paying more. If this continues, it may be necessary for the stores to hire armed security guards.
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Due to theft and the unholy mess that people made, in our small uniform business we didn't allow customers self-serve access to our school uniform apparel. They could try shirts, pants, shorts, etc., on, but to get the quantity of merchandise they needed, they had to come to the front counter. Pricey jackets and sweatshirts were tried on at the very long front counter (6-8 cashiers). All stock was positioned behind that counter. We'd immediately pull their order and receive payment.

Sorry to say that we needed to do this despite serving only religious-based schools.

Those days may return sooner rather than later for all kinds of brick and mortar outlets.
 
Watched the Vice Channel last night about car theft. The high end vehicles mostly go to three countries in Africa where people are wealthier. One thief very young, said once they get an "order" for a certain type of ride they cruise areas looking for that type of vehicle. If they don't find one parked but see one moving down a street they simply hijack it at gunpoint.
 
fmdog44 said:
Watched the Vice Channel last night about car theft. The high end vehicles mostly go to three countries in Africa where people are wealthier. One thief very young, said once they get an "order" for a certain type of ride they cruise areas looking for that type of vehicle. If they don't find one parked but see one moving down a street they simply hijack it at gunpoint.
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Source: 2021 Article from Madison.com
 
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I was in Lowe's the other day. I'd say half the light bulb packages had the bulbs stolen. I needed a light switch, again, half the boxes were empty. But, I was the only person in this section of the store. I could not find an employee. Aisle after aisle, there were no employees. If I wanted to rip Lowe's off, who was going to stop me? I think people are ripping off stores, because it's so damn easy. I'm sorry that stores are getting ripped off, but what these raids prove is how easy it is to rip off stores.
 

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