To think security should have let thief stole?

[User271947]

Was doing my food shop earlier and happened to see the scene of a man getting caught stealing milk. Just a bottle of milk.

My heart broke for this thief, if he wasn't desperate he wouldn't have stolen... it wasn't anything he could gain money from.

I thought if security just turned a blind eye and let him walk home with it he might have fed himself or someone, or at least took away that bit of hunger. Yes it's their job but I think sometimes humanity should be above.

Would you have compassion for this or am I being naive?

Security guards are paid shite wages and often work via an agency with limited employment rights and job security.

This is accurate. Many security guards are contracted by a 3rd party agency rather than employed directly by the retailer. This means that any complaint or misgiving leads to the security guard being asked to leave and the agency informed they are not return for work at that store.

How would you know they were not a prolific shop lifter or didn't have more expensive items they were also trying to steal @Lastfreakinglegs ?

@Lastfreakinglegs

Wow some harsh comments on here. No one stealing milk is going to do it for thrills surely.

why not? many of them do you know?

No one stealing milk is going to do it for thrills surely.

Come and watch our cameras for a few days*, all sorts of people steal for all sorts of reasons

• Don't really

Could you have paid for the purchase and he gets a lifetime ban from the store?

I'm with you OP... stealing necessities is so far removed from theft for a profit, it just shouldn't be looked at the same way. I would rather turn a blind eye than punish someone who may be in a desperate situation.

Have you seen 'I, Daniel Blake? The scene where the young woman steals sanitary products is a heartbreaking reality check.

I've witnessed a similar scenario but during a queue to pay. Guy was going through checkout with basic bits and bobs, didn't have enough cash to pay, was turning out pockets. He was only about £1.30 short. The queue all rummaged in our bags to make up his shortfall whilst security hovered.

I don't think the security guy should have let the person go you witnessed otherwise everyone would be doing the same. But it's not good and there are places he could go to for help. Its needing to be signposted first which so many people won't seek for so many reasons.

@Lastfreakinglegs

Wow some harsh comments on here. No one stealing milk is going to do it for thrills surely.

Ha. People steal all kind of small stuff. Cookies, sugar satchets (yes, if you put 30+ into your pocket you are a disgrace), cutlery, soap from toilets, air freshener from there, pack of napkins, cleaning products, blue roll, single fruits, jar of lose tea... i could go on. And that's just 1 place in a span of few months...

Maybe he's short of money because he can't get work, because people who are on 100% pay through furlough schemes and top-ups are taking the available jobs, just because they're bored?

another passer by was trying to catch the security's attention in offer to pay but he was having none of it

That's a shame, sounds like he needs the quota to show he's doing his job properly/power trip jobsworth. It's why I couldn't do that job - I would be 3 strikes on small things then the police, which wouldn't go down well with corporate.

My heart broke for this thief, if he wasn't desperate he wouldn't have stolen

Quite an assumption being made there ... unless you know him of course

Do you?

The security guard is paid to do a job, and if his employer sees him failing to do it, he could lose his livelihood.

Also lots of people just take what they want without paying for it. They don't fear getting caught because the consequences are negligible and they are not in fear of losing their job/reputation. They don't steal because they are desperate, they are just not in the habit of always paying.

@GrannieD

Distraction theft !! Give the security guard something to do while his mate shoves a leg of lamb down his joggers !

This! No one steals milk its cheap as chips his mate was walking out with the big ticket items while he was rousted for milk we have one shop who prosecuted for Mars bars they were being hit so often they took a no tolerance policy it was this or close

There is a local pub and hairdressers you can go to buy expensive cuts of meat even manuka honey from Holland and Barrett sometimes they take orders and "nip" to the shops to fill them its always been like this even before the pandemic

Just to add that place was frequented by well dressed and clean professionals and families. Sounds like it was some craphole

@1forAll74

Stealing stuff is wrong, whatever the reasons., if he didn't get caught, he would probably try again and again to steal. I used to work in a supermarket years ago, and all kinds of people use to steal things off the selves daily. Most of them got nabbed, but I am sure some got away quickly with the tricks of their trade so to speak..

It's easy for people to feel sorry for someone who has to steal some milk or bread etc, but they could probably get some help with getting some food if they were desperate for basic things. It is awful though, as supermarkets dump lots of good stuff in the skips at the end of the day.

Most supermarkets now give leftover or damaged food to charity eg foodshare, real junk food project.

@Lastfreakinglegs

Wow some harsh comments on here. No one stealing milk is going to do it for thrills surely.

Have you not heard of distraction theft?

Someone blatantly steals a low cost item and distracts security while the real thief makes off with a much higher value item. The police won't be interested in someone nicking a pint of milk and so they're highly unlikely to charge them. Meanwhile the real thief also makes off scott-free.

Some of the comments on here 😂 I live in a deprived area we are always getting people knocking on door trying to sell us meat and other groceries that have been shop lifted

I mean no of course security should have stopped him it’s theft however I wouldn’t be judging like some on here “ dirty thieving scumbag “ really .

@SeasonFinale

Did you intervene and offer to pay for it?

This

And I think you meant that security should have let the person ‘steal’ the milk.

If everyone took a bottle of milk because there were too many days left at the end of the month... where would we be? £4 a pint?
Maybe the man had spaffed his money up the bookies' wall?

I agree that it's a difficult scenario to witness but, as others have said, theft is theft.
Supermarkets and local shops are not charities.

I know what you mean User271 I was in Morrisons in Leyland a couple of years ago, a man had stolen a joint of meat, and there were 4 security guards on him, pinning his arms up his back, he was on the floor, face to the ground and one guard was kneeling on his back until the police turned up. The force used was excessive, and I doubt it would be tolerated now in the light of the guy in the USA who mouthed "I can't breathe". I felt really bad for the poor man. Yes, theft is theft, but he may have been desperate. Also, I don't think the police attend for shoplifting now, I don't know what the procedure is, as you used to see people being led from the supermarkets into a police car.

@x2boys

Some of the comments on here 😂 I live in a deprived area we are always getting people knocking on door trying to sell us meat and other groceries that have been shop lifted

thats good then....keep them all in one place

I would offer to pay for the milk if I saw someone that desperate that they tried to steal it. But where I live theft of small amounts of essential food needed to survive is not a crime. That doesn’t mean you can load a trolley up with boxes of chocolates and artisan cheeses and saunter out of the grocery store without paying, but it means that those who are so desperate that they cannot afford bread or milk won’t be prosecuted for stealing a small amount.

Obviously the bigger issue is getting to the roof of problems as to why people end up like that and what we can do to help them before it gets to that stage. But that’s a whole other discussion.

People steal all kind of small stuff

Tell me about it I used to run a community centre and the thefts of "small stuff" were stratospheric, until I demanded keys to users' store cupboards
Everyone was fine with this, except the OAP group who made sad eyes and whined "Oooo Puzzled, not the old people"

Once opened it was like Aladdin's Cave in there ...

Lots of people steal food to sell it on. Or they steal because it's funny. Or because they spend all their money on drink or drugs.