AIBU to ask if shoplifting has effectively been decriminalised?

More worried about the same, in effect, for rape.

i nipped to asda the other day with dp for a new phone charger

we went to the self service,paid and walked out

the alarms went off,so i stood and waited for someone to come over and check i had paid

5 minutes later,still nobody and staff where avoiding my eye as they walked past

another few minutes slid past and in the end,i had to hold it over my head (to avoid setting off the alarms) and walked out

sod em-i wouldnt dream of stealing but they didnt help themselves-i was stood waiting for someone to come over and check but nobody was bothered!

The chain I work for seem to be far more interested in making sure the staff aren't stealing than doing anything about shop lifters to be honest. People regularly fill baskets and walk out while we have to do everything in full view of cameras, get it checked and signed off and woe betide anyone who's till is under by £3 or more. I wouldn't mind but half the stock is literally walking out the front door!

I did jury service years ago and many of the witnesses were junkies. They got their drug money by stealing stuff and selling it on quickly and cheap!

But what amused me the most is that their own opinions of others that steal. Stealing from large chain shops was deemed OK. Those that stole from independent businesses were shitty. And anyone stealing from a home or an individual was just the lowest scum!!

I'm not sure going back to hands being chopped off for theft is the right answer but I do wish it carried hefty penalties.

Yes you can pretty much do what you like. Taking away checkouts for scan & go for example.. easiest thing ever to steal a load when using that. Not to mention the amount of shops with no security or staff that don't care (don't really blame them).

If the store reports each event and submits cctv the police will build a case file for numerous offences to be heard at the same time - if it’s the same offender each time. That said, the new sentencing guidelines that were introduced in March or May this year state anyone sentenced to 12 months or less unless there are extenuating circumstance will have a suspended sentence.

was that the scheme run by a third party - Co-op was also involved IIRC? Wasn’t it challenged and had to be stopped?

I watched a man wheel his full trolly out ,no one stopped him ,
He would of needed time to load it in to his car ,but still no one stopped him .and this is a lovely area
Police to busy policing hurty words

Some key words for you...................facial recognition B&M Home Bargains

Lets make sure this is infallible first before we move into even more tech eh

Shops need to set up memberships schemes with id entry. No membership no entry. Those who shoplift will be denied membership. To access shops you have to go through a swipe system witb a non cross a ble barrier.

Also as part of the membership process you have to declare your criminal record. Those who cannot access shops have to go to gov shops set up for them

Yep, and don’t forget rape.

AIBU to ask if shoplifting has effectively been decriminalised?

It has. As has mobile phone mugging.

I know if I was staff I wouldn’t be stopping them.

One shop in our locality has a camera and a door which can be locked from behind the counter. As soon as they spot a shoplifter they wait for them to approach the door then lock it and try to retrieve the items they are attempting to steal.
Most of those being apprehended do give the stuff back but the staff are taking a huge risk and Im not sure it legal. They say they are hoping that by keep posting these clips they will deter others from trying it on and that they are seeing less attempts as word is getting out.

9 times out of 10 someone will shop lift while I am in the local Tesco - men run in a grab all the laundry liquid, they grab all the wine etc. People walk out without paying for full bags of shopping. DP was in there one day and a young lad jumped over the perspect shield to grab the spirits and cigarets, woman in full face veil walked out with unpaid for bag... its mental. we don't let the kids go there on their own anymore.

😳

My son has just resigned from a job delivering for supermarkets as he is so fed up of gangs of kids and adults threatening him and surrounding him, taking stuff he is unloading outside customers houses.

WH Smith/TG Jones doesnt fire staff who wrongly accuse customers. Ask me how i know

Doubt it. More women shoplifters round here, at least. And a lot of them are very violent.

Also to add, previously police and courts between them have done fuck all. So before the latest action being taken I think most of the thieves didn’t even bother running from the store, more strolled. This angers paying customers which I completely accept. What I don’t and won’t accept is said customers screaming at me and my colleagues for doing nothing about it (legally and contractually we can’t and anyway, we don’t get paid enough to). We’ve also had a small wave of pensioners stealing from us; newspapers, biscuits, cider) I’m guessing because they see others getting away with it. The thing is, they get caught. And publicly banned from the shop. We ban everyone who steals from us- once we’ve caught them in the act.

Total lawlessness. It’ll all go digital and home delivery eventually if there’s no crackdown.

An ex of mine used to work in a supermarket during uni, when they caught a shoplifter they put him in a room and asked my burly 6’4” bf to sit in there with him, he said the bloke was jittery the whole time. When the police arrived they searched the shoplifter and found a knife. Doesn’t bear thinking about what things had been swirling round in his mind, things could’ve gone seriously wrong. Things like this need to be considered when stopping them, it’s scary nowadays.

I work in a convenience supermarket, all we can do is catch them as they approach the store then ask them not to enter or show that we’ve spotted them and ask them to leave. I don’t like doing it some of them are intimidating , if they have a bag full of stuff I’m not gonna fight them for it (some staff will try and grab it back) I’d just rather they leave asap
the police don’t do anything. We are told to not try and take stock back or block their exit in our training as that puts us at risk