Robbing from Tesco with impunity *edited by MNHQ*

So do you want me to say the staff/manager should go to prison?

Because 'false imprisonment' carries a sentence of 1 to 12 years in the UK.

And what if it is more than "a few minutes" if the shoplifter refuses to give any goods back, and given that the police might not turn up at all? They just keep it locked indefinitely?

And is locking people inside a shop adhering to fire safety regulations?

Is that not false imprisonment?

The bar is set somewhat higher than being inconvenienced by a shop door being locked for a few minutes, however inconvenient it may be.

They physically lock the door to stop a shoplifter from escaping? What happens to all the other shoppers who happen to also be in there, they've prevented from leaving too? Is that not false imprisonment?

I've witnessed this several times at my local Lidl when I pop down late in the evening.
Once a guy ran out of the entrance with a trolley full of middle aisle electronics and legged it across the car park. Another time same thing but with steaks. Once I saw someone shoving packs of batteries into his jacket and walk out. I told the staff about that one and he just said he happens all the time. The staff aren't going to risk their safety by stopping them and the company obviously don't want to stump up for a security guard.

Up the road to the pub and sold them for drug money, the shop knew, the police knew. No one was bothered.

This kind of society depends on law abiding citizens who don't get angry and just keep paying their taxes and ever increasing prices. It's incredible, but I wonder how long it can last.

This is common everywhere, not helped by the ‘they are stealing to feed their kids’ nonsense. A friend worked for a small Co-Op a few years ago, the usual suspects came in and just took joints of meat. Up the road to the pub and sold them for drug money, the shop knew, the police knew. No one was bothered.

if this happens too much shops will shut, people will lose their jobs and law abiding people will be forced to travel to find another food shop.

have you seen the videos of the teenagers rampaging in Oxford Street, attempting to loot JD Sports. Or the teenagers in California looting the Louis Vuitton shop?

Yep, my daughter works in a big fashion store. At the end of each day they pick up tonnes of labels people have cut off of clothes. Even if they see someone steal something they aren’t allowed to challenge them. There is no security guard and no staff on the changing room. One guy goes around the industrial park going into all the big stores with a ski bag and fills it up.

That helps to explain the prices rises! Not that I think your daughter should have to tackle thieves...

Is it a larger store with many members of staff?
I witnessed a female worker (very Friday Night Dinner) stop a couple with a young baby in a pram and asked to search their bags. They were having none of it so security came and 'guided' them behind doors so they could go the receipt and items privately.

My One Stop which is a subsidiary of Tesco often only has 2 members of staff. Both usually female and both 20 years old or younger.

It's the size of the store I imagine. They're not to put themselves in danger. And why should they. No security guard, morning or night 🤷

My local Tesco locks shoplifters in the store until they give back the items stolen.

You have to ask for a basket now in our local One Stop.

I originally asked why there were none and the manager said because they've all been stolen. I said huh? What by kids, running in a nicking a basket?
He said no by adults coming in, filling the basket and walking out.

I was genuinely shocked, it takes a lot to shock me!

I went in at 7am opening, witnessed a man filling up a rucksack with booze and walking out. They do call the police, but we all saw him off on his bike and round the corner.

I can do and say and have seen many a shocking thing, but nothing so brazen, leaving the 'kids' working there frightened and helpless.

And there's me off to the food bank.

That's the thing, I'm guessing from the the flip side part of stock shrinkage is built into their company model. I wonder how much theft would be from staff themselves at the Various stores / warehouses etc.

But tackling a thug will very possibly result in you being on the receiving end of physical violence so 'reasonable force' is kind of a moot point unless you're able to physically restrain them. Really, you'd be safer injuring them enough that they're incapacitated and can't retaliate (e.g. bludgeon them over the head) but then you're getting into criminal territory yourself.

Not true. Unless you're talking about a level of physicality/violence beyond what's needed to prevent a crime.

If they physically stopped you they could be done for assault I would think.

Yep, my daughter works in a big fashion store. At the end of each day they pick up tonnes of labels people have cut off of clothes. Even if they see someone steal something they aren’t allowed to challenge them. There is no security guard and no staff on the changing room. One guy goes around the industrial park going into all the big stores with a ski bag and fills it up.

Perhaps shopping will become click and collect.

Ha!

Supermarkets could just do online deliveries and close the doors or they could revert to the olde corner grocery where you ask for stuff over a counter. It would solve all the ‘lonely old folk need human contact’ complaints about self scanning.

Shops are only going to put in security measures if it makes sense to do so. We have two supermarkets in our town: a Sainsburys and a Waitrose. Neither of them have barriers nor security guards and both have quick scan (where you just pick up a handscanner and scan all your own shopping). It's a low crime area, with low rates of shoplifting, so why would they bother inconveniencing their customers with barriers and go to the expense of hiring security guards?

They would be an ideal and very soft target for shoplifting of course, but the funny thing about criminals is that they mostly operate in surroundings that they are comfortable in - looters and rioters for example, always seem to target JD Sports rather than, say, Harrods. Similarly shoplifters generally only target shops and areas that they would normally shop in were they not on the rob.

Maybe supermarkets will close down and become giant warehouses where it's online shopping only.

Well nobody in power cares. They are only focused on not stopping the boats whilst this is happening and NHS cancer waiting list times are quietly dropped.

More police officers on paper, but when it takes six hours before an officer is back on the streets after making an arrest because of the amount of mostly pointless paperwork. In Canada by contrast that figure is just an hour. Spending ages on hold to CPS Direct is also a waste of time (I was a victim of crime in February by the way, all caught on bodycam, several witnesses, a weapon involved, and the man was arrested shortly afterwards; I'm still waiting for the CPS to decide whether or not to charge him).

Paperwork is also a major cause of the knife crime epidemic. In the old days, if you hadn't conducted a couple of searches per shift the sergeant would be wondering if you were asleep on the job. These days the requirements are so onerous and the practice discouraged by politicians that some officers haven't done a search in months. Stop and search saves lives. Theresa May in particular bears significant responsibility. One of the reasons that the practice is discouraged is community relations. But then look at the riots in Cardiff recently where some kids riding illegal scrambler bikes were killed. Despite the reaction of the rioters I'd like to bet that most people weren't very sympathetic to a couple of feral teens who had been causing havoc around the community. When the police started ramming moped thieves, most people cheered.

Then there's mispers. People reported missing. Sometimes it's serious, sometimes it's the same kid in care who goes missing three times a night. That ties resources up. The police also end up filling in the gaps in other services. They end up dealing with people with mental health issues who really should have some kind of proper care.

The courts have also gone soft, partly down to sentencing guidelines aimed at keeping the prison population in check, partly because judges and magistrates live privileged lives insulated from the effects that crime cause in a community. They see the scrote on his best behaviour, his lawyer bringing in a girl to claim that a baby is on the way (no one ever checks nine months later to see whether there ever was a baby) and the judge/magistrate feels sorry for him and gives him a non-custodial sentence. So a handful of individuals make up a substantial proportion of police workloads because they never get locked up. Community sentences are viewed as a joke. Lock up a few recidivists for five years and you'll find the local burglary rate will plummet.