I knew shop lifting was a problem but I didn't imagine it was like this..

[SunShow]

DS is working in a Tesco Express. He personally makes around 8 shop lifting reports every day. Obviously these are just the one he sees.

I imagined that shoplifting was kids/teens stealing a chocolate bar or desperate people stealing food and that does happen, but most of it is much larger scale. Yesterday he had people arrive with rucksacks and literally sweep the contents of a shelf into their bags.

Staff are taught not to confront them (good as far as his mother is concerned!) and police take no action even when there is good CCTV.

This is a small supermarket in the nicer bit of a perfectly pleasant suburban town.

Lidl in Dublin was like that.

Eventually we will only be able to shop online and this will be the cause.

The lawlessness is what will take this country down.

I took myself into the city of London the other day for a day out around the Tate, millennium Bridge, St Paul's etc.

I was absolutely amazed to witness a couple of city office workers (in suits so not unreasonable to assume they'd be from one of the surrounding office blocks) walk in past me in Pret and just brazenly help themselves to lunch from the shelves wiithout paying! It happened so fast, they were in and out in a blink of the eye while I was casually choosing my lunch - absolutely speechless! Shocking!

So much is tagged in my local shop or behind the counter
you have to ask for stuff like coffee, razor blades. Cheese is in plastic sealed boxes
alcohol in a cage section

People steal to order around here.

Literally, like a milkman, they have regular "customers" who tell them what they want each week. The shop lifters nick the item and then go back to the customer and sell it to them for significantly less than the shop.

Ive also been randomly stopped on the street by people asking me if I want to buy some perfume and less often, bacon or cheese. Even if I was in the habit of buying stolen stuff (Im not!) why would I want to buy food from some druggy who has had it in on the inside of his coat for who knows how long?!

Our little Asda now has a security guard, they must be losing a lot to make that worth it.

No repercussions at all, and it feels absolutely brazen and lawless. Saw a woman empty packet after packet of meat into a large bag then casually stroll out. No staff around at all. We are the ones paying, I think self service tills make it worse,

Yes. It's extraordinary.
A few years ago in our local Sainsburys, I was spot checked at the self service tills. The chap pulled me aside to check five items. He claimed one had not been scanned. It was a bottle of tonic. When I finished scanning the bill was £86.44.

He said something like "we haven't been scanning everything have we" and I was frogmarched to a till with a manager watching, hawk eyed. The total bill was £86.44! I asked for the scanner records but was told these were automatically and immediately deleted.

It was horrendous and I have not shopped at Sainsburys since.

Even then I was spending about £800pcm in Sainsburys, easily verified through my nectar account. I made a formal complaint and didn't get an acceptable apology.

Sainsburys loss but a shame after 40 loyal years.

Funny how they ignore the thieves and miscreants but feel a middle aged, middle class lady is fair game and for no good reason.

Whose going to do that though ?
I certainly wouldn't risk it would you ?

I worked in bookshops in the 90s. We had regular shoplifters who had their specialist areas that they would do a clean sweep on. We'd chuck them out if we caught sight of them but mostly you'd just notice them as they left and then find the empty shelves.

My local Asda is like a jail these days, one way in, one way out, alarmed exits at the (few) staffed checkouts, alarmed exits as you leave the main store area and security on the exterior doors as well as the interior ones. All the alchohol has alarmed tags on, they just used to do this to the full sized spirits bottles and the pricier wine. Some meat and cheese has tags. I only shop there in emergencies as it is such a depressing experience.

I used to be drugs worker quite a long time ago and drug users have always committed aquistive crime to fund their drugs, quite a few would steal to order, it is not a new thing, this was over 15 years ago. I do think that people are getting more blatant now and I feel really sorry for staff.

Junkies selling it means the people buying it should also be dealt with.

It’s not just junkies and career criminals. I worked in a high end dress shop several years ago and we would regularly challenge “nice” middle class ladies with our jewellery and hair accessories stuffed into their handbags.

A security guard told me since supermarkets brought in self check outs there is a huge number of office workers who fail to scan their meal deals and boldly walk out - every day.

People kid themselves that “big business” can afford it or are insured against theft in some way.

My local Boots has an enormous security man on the door for this very purpose. They physically cant get past him he's so huge.

Sainsburys in Darlington, you have to scan a receipt to get out. Obviously these shops where you have to scan a card to get in and you get automatically charged have started popping up. The technology is there, it’ll only be a matter of time before it’s rolled out widely.

Ahh, the measured response. Socially aware and compassionate
Presume you’re joking?

My daughter works in a large bookshop - there is no security, people come in with suitcases and empty the shelves into them.They sell board games etc as well as books.
Nobody can do or say anything 🤷🏻‍♀️
It’s mind blowing!

So.I live in a deprived are sometimes people knock on the door selling stuff
whilst I wouldn't buy it
Many people would and I have seen people trying to sell legs of lamb etc which would normally retail at £20+, for a fiver.

That is horrendous

Much as I can appreciate the sentiment, I don't agree entirely. The police can't strtech to dealing with your buglary or your assault. They shouldn't be wasting time on shop-lifting. You'd have the entire police force snarled up in shop-lifting. Allow shops / local councils / business improvement districts to recruit and train their own security, and once they are at a certain level of training allow them to collect evidence and process charges for shop-lifting. IT won't solve the entire problem, but it will go some way to making it harder.

Eventually it will all be behind glass and we will have to ask for everything. I'm amazed there's not more shops like that already to be honest.

Because you are seen as less dangerous to tackle. If they think you are stealing but dont pose a safety risk to them, then they might stop you. If they see a burly guy who is likely to get aggressive or is so blazen about it, it's obvious he is going to cause trouble, they are unlikely to stop him and pit themselves at risk. A shoplifting mum with a baby? More likely to cry than knife them.

Whenever I wore my baby in a sling, staff in my local little Sainsburys would ring the little security bell when I went in. They never did it if I wasnt wearing my baby. I actually raised it with the manager because I used to go in several times a week and it was pissing me off. It didnt happen after that so I was definitely being targeted.

How do.you deal with people buying it when you don't know who they are selling it too?

In their coat is bad enough, how about stuffed down their trackie bottoms🤑

A lot of off-licenses are already like that. Just a square in the middle for the customer and everything else (including the members of staff) behind glass.