Shoplifting - have public scuffles with other customers become a thing??

[FurCoatNoKnickz]

Twice in the last week, I’ve witnessed members of the public stepping in to stop shoplifting, with pushes and scuffles breaking out. I had to call the police. It felt like shoppers are starting to get fed up, butt in, shout things, physically prevent people, push shoplifters and even scuffle.

Are other people noticing this elsewhere?

Perhaps the current government can fund police recruitment 🤔

I don’t think people generally become heroin addicts because mummy didn’t say no to them having another bar of chocolate when they were 5.
It is far more complicated then parental lack of discipline. Often the parents of addicts are addicts themselves. There is a lot of trauma involved.
Until something (I can’t pretend I have any knowledge or ideas of what) is done about drug addiction, shoplifting will continue to spiral. I smell weed more often then cigarettes nowadays. Drugs are everywhere. A lot of the rest of the world is facing the same problem.

Do you think people choose to be addicted? I don't mean choose to take drugs, but choose addiction? Do you think you can punish someone into not being addicted? How would you do that?

Illegal drugs are a multi-billion worldwide business; the addicts stealing from shops are the end-stage symptom.

I guess we’ll find out when Rachel Reeves reveals all next week

The only person I’ve ever known was a drug addict came home from School as a 10-year-old boy and found his mother dead at the bottom of the stairs.
What punishment do you think would work for that one?

The cycle needs to stop. If caught with drugs, stop any benefits then throw them in jail.

Yes I know we don't have enough prison spaces BUT it is imperative that we create new prisons for the survival of decent human beings.

Exactly this addiction is a illness usually from untreated mental illness and or trauma these people need help not punishment. With mh services the way they are its hardly surprising so many people are on drugs.

Prisons are full of drugs; lots of people become addicted there.

Current system isn't helping them. Put them in jail with no drug access. Then when released they will be clean and will rebuild their life.

Prison would be more beneficial to them in the long run.

At this point I’m not sure if you are incredibly naive or actually joking.

Very few people choose or want to be a drug or alcohol addict. The most common reasons are trauma from mental illness/abuse/pain.
When I did my psychiatric nursing module I heard the most heart breaking stories. Childhood sexual abuse was the most common history, followed by life changing injuries due to accident or assault. With mental health problems increasing and the shocking lack of GP and mental health support services we are going to see a lot more people going off the rails and self medicating. It doesn't take long to spiral out of control.

We need real prisons with no drugs. Put them in solitary confinement.

Look at historic decades. People always suffered trauma but they didn't turn to drugs. Drug use needs punishment.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. A lot of the drugs get into prison with the aid of prison staff.

Ok Mussolini.

Do you really think prisons are drug free places???

No but you can make them fear the consequences of being caught shoplifting. Being locked up, being beaten up, being terrorized so much they are to afraid to even go near a shop let alone steal from one.

https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/morphinomania-in-the-19th-century

Ignorance is no barrier to strong opinions, right?

People have used alcohol and various other substances for centuries. All types of beer and spirits, opium, laudanum to name the few that immediately come to mind.

It isn’t that mummy said no to another bar of chocolate. It’s more that mummy slaps and kicks the child, brings home low life men who violently or sexually abuse him, and generally surrounds the child with nothing but ugliness, ignorance and cruelty. Children are little sponges. They learn by imitation. If your parents are foul, and all you ever see and hear is ugly and cruel, then that becomes your norm. I don’t have many firm political views, but I am 100% sure that some people should be discouraged from having children. If we could stop the most abusive, feral people from having kids, we’d do more to reduce crime, poverty, addiction and misery than any other single thing.

The conversation has moved from shoplifting to drugs and now prisons.

Prisons need to be real prisons, no DRUGS, no privileges and only basic food. Not a holiday camp.

So many things in society need changing but pandering to drug use, shoplifting etc is not helping victims or perpetrator.

Have you been to prison? Seen the inside of a prison?

Not to mention the fact that we seem to be overrun with paedophiles in our institutions and as the police have already admitted, there are too many to lock them up.

How or why people become addicted is another matter. What sort of punishment/rehabilitation they receive whilst not irrelevant should not be taken into account when removing them from society for a period of time. The public have a right to go about their daily lives in safety and if that involves locking up addicts then so be it. Whether that is in prison or a rehab centre is something that rightly should be discussed. But in the meantime I and everyone I work with should be able to go to work without the fear of violence