Shop lifting

[Marie0]

Apologies I am not sure if this is the right section to post, just after some advice...

My friend revealed to me last night that she regularly shoplifts. Funny thing is she has a very comfortable life style and certainly doesn't need to. (She has plenty of money)

She does it at supermarkets and steals groceries by putting them in a shopping bag which she hangs on the trolley and puts other items in the trolley.

She then goes to the checkout and says if she was caught (or asked) at the checkout about the other bag full of stuff she would simply say I've just bought all this stuff through the self service checkout and forgot a few items.

She said the Self service checkout asks if you want a print out for a receipt and she declines so therefore would simply say that she didn't think she would need the receipt.

I asked her why she does it and she says she gets a 'kick' out of it! Yesterday she stole a chicken, and jar of coffee. She says she only steals about £10 worth of goods every time she goes to the supermarket.

She doesn't appear to have any mental health issues and no criminal history. I didn't really react when she told me.

Certainly don't want her to get into trouble, but surely it's just a matter of time before she gets caught? I

AIBU if I tell her husband? But that's of course breaking her confidence.

Any advice??

They won’t stressed. The didn’t with Anthony WT which keeps getting quoted- he simply was cautioned for shoplifting.

However I can see how they might not bother calling the police until it becomes a frequent thing, but it doesn’t affect the consequence

Because it's nicer to keep your money than spend it. That's the reason people with money do it!

Unfortunately I did for years and years and never got caught, I'd steal shampoos, fake tan, makeup from primark, makeup in dunnes stores, hell, even lunch!

I don't do it at all anymore it was a habit. Iv done many things I'm not proud of. But yeah, I never got caught because I didn't look like the type of person who would steal. It's all very appearance based!

My previous job was marketing based and involved a lot of interaction with various supermarkets. There are hidden cameras EVERYWHERE. There are plain clothes store detectives there as well as the uniformed store security.
There are cameras on every till and also on every self scan till. Whether or not she gets a receipt, the self scan till still records every item that went through.

She absolutely will get caught. It's a question of WHEN not IF.

I know a criminologist who thinks nothing of doing this. They justify it because a couple of supermarkets in particular are bigger criminals to the tune of tens of millions so why should average tax payers feel bad about taking the odd thing.

I was shoplifting for over ten years and never got caught, so it's not correct to say she will definitely get caught. Only some do

Ah yes, the intellectual justification. Some people have very dodgy moral compasses. I wouldn't trust someone who told me they stole and had their lies ready should they get caught.

Shopkeeper near me used to regularly rob up other shops and sell the takings in his own shop. This was small fry stuff, kitkats, teacakes and other bullshit stuff. I remember he had small, rubbery eyes and tiny hands. Proper oddball. He used to tell us about how he baseball-batted a homeless who'd took a bag in box of wine.

Bimgy - wow 10 years is alot!

She definitely thinks the supermarkets have 'bigger fish to fry', why on earth would they be interested in someone nicking the odd loaf of bread or jar of coffee?

She thinks once she's out of the door she's got away with it. I texted her earlier to say as some PP's mentioned that supermarkets might be putting together a case when she has totalled up X amount in£'s she has stolen.

She thought this was really funny as that would mean store detectives actual putting together CCTV footage and checking tills to see if certain items had gone through, she thought it was utterly ridiculous! I suppose it maybe does sound a bit far fetched - if maybe she was stealing £100's a week then maybe.

I have to say it does sound a bit unrealistic for a CCTV operator to think they've spotted something suspicious then gone to the trouble of checking through other CCTV on different days hoping to spot the same person and then cross checking that with till information to indeed 'build a case' over someone who's nicked a jar of coffee and a chicken!

She's convinced once she's out of the door she's got away with it. she even slows down to smile at the security guard on the way out (she's very attractive) so that is well received.

I think this IS her hobby for the time being!

@BlancheM

Do you actually know someone who’s employed as a criminologist and who not just shoplifts but also tells others that she does?

Or do you know someone who studied criminology?

I suppose people will say I've lived a sheltered life, but I find it shocking that stealing is very normal to a lot of people. It's not just on this thread or similar ones either. I've frequently heard comedians and actors cheerfully refer to having stolen from shops on a regular basis. The attitude seems to be "Who cares? We've all done it haven't we?" and everyone laughs. I'm thinking "Well I haven't".

Well not sheltered as such but I Presume you find it easy enough to acknowledge the people have different life experiences

People who shoplift think it is a victimless crime. But it isn’t. The victims are everyone else who shops there.

Rude this person teaches people studying criminology and is respected in their field

Why do people think that shoplifting directly increases prices to the consumer? Stock is constantly written off. Yes it increases cost to the business the more they write off but only in the same way as staff wages, bonuses, rent increases do. Consumers won’t suddenly pay more to cover these costs, they’ll just go elsewhere

Pricing is a very complex mix of costing and marketing. It’s in no way as simple as theft= prices go up

She has a need for the adrenaline rush. Voice your disapproval and tell her to get help

@BlancheM

And she shoplifts and tells others??

Shoplift I can just about get my head around. Barely though given her professsion.

Telling others? Nope

@glintandglide

But all the things you lost, the business will get something from. Paying staff; rewarding staff; business premises.

Shoplifting - there is nothing, literally nothing, gained from it. So it’s 100% loss.

I've avoided saying whether it's a he or a she
But yes, they see no immorality there when the cost is covered by the billion pound companies, not the consumer as is often said.

Well no rude, if boots rent a shop for £100k a quarter and the landlords put it up to £150k a quarter no one gains but the landlord

Someone I know got done for shoplifting. She'd swapped tags on something that was knocked down in price, but she used a tag from one department and put it on something from another department. The total price was under £4.

It was a bit complicated but she denied doing it - well, she admitted doing it but said there was another identical item in the sale for the lower price that didn't have a reduced label, so she took the label off something else and slapped it on.

She'd been noticed in the store before this because she spent so long looking at things - I did a whole shop with two small children while she was looking at toothpaste

Anyway, they caught her out at the till - the security guard had given the woman on the till the nod. She was marched through the store (very local, very humiliating) and the police were called. She was offered a caution but refused as she said she'd done nothing wrong, simply put the right label on the item.

They took her to the police station. She was there for hours. They arrested and charged her when she finally admitted taking a label off one item and putting it on the other (even though there was already another item with the same price.) Her costs and fine together were £750. She was banned from using the store again (massively inconvenient as she lived nearby and didn't drive) and there was a write up in the local paper.

It's just not worth it!

I should say I’m not at all surprised by the criminologist. Maybe her personality is the reason Shes interested in crime

Shoplifting is a common symptom of mental illness. Often you can tell that it is linked to mental illness because it is unnecessary (obviously I'd you are stealing due to a lack of money that is different) and it escalates (shop lifters with underlying mental health problems often start with small things like chocolate bars or batteries or sonething then steal bigger and bigger items as they become numb to the risk. There was an Australian MP about five or ten years ago who tried to shop lift a whole trolley of food. It turned out that she was a kleptomaniac. I would suggest trying to get your friend some help.

I should say I’m not at all surprised by the criminologist. Maybe her personality is the reason Shes interested in crime

Sounds like the synopsis for a potential ITV crime drama IMO!