AIBU to ask if shoplifting has effectively been decriminalised?

[IsawwhatIsaw]

I know there have been previous threads about shoplifting.
here’s another one, as I just heard our small local supermarket lost around 50 bottles of wine in a few minutes the other night.
apparently 3 men came in with big bags and set about clearing the wine shelves. Then casually walked out.
This shop has continuous shoplifting but not usually on this scale. Think more sweets, sandwiches, meat.
And there are very few staff in there now because of self service tills . Maybe the supermarket feels slashing staff numbers still works out cheaper the man stopping any theft deterrent .
so my Aibu is to ask whether shoplifting has been effectively decriminalized.

I still see loads of shoplifters in my court that get criminal records and sanctions for shoplifting. So that’s not my experience.

Yep. I saw a bloke walk out of Tesco with a trolley full of stuff and the security guard just stood next to him saying give it back while he unloaded it and drove off. The self serve checkouts are the ones nearest the entrance. It’s like they and the police have just given up on it.

only for the dodgy people. You can be sure that if you or I or anyone non threatening in appearance would have their collar felt and face prison if caught shoplifting

Yes, my partner works in a shop and the police will not come out for shoplifting anymore unless it’s violent, they won’t even investigate.

There are apparently numerous shoplifters well known to the staff, who try and get them out.
It was just the scale of this and the brazenness that got me.
They know the staff can’t do anything so just helped themselves.
There’s a bad drug problem in this area too, people openly injecting themselves in parks. Sure there’s a connection .
It just feels like a lot has gone downhill over last few years.

If I tried to nick a chicken I’d be tackled to the ground. But big blokes looking lairy are not going to be - and nor should the staff be putting themselves at risk.

Loads of big scary looking blokes thieving in the local supermarkets.

It Feels like it doesn’t it. Our medium sized High Street Boots might as well have a sign above it saying “help yourself”. It’s got so bad the staff barely put any stock out, so now you can’t buy anything anyway. Whether through theft or decline in sales, I’m sure it must be unviable now.

The problem isn’t only staff hours being slashed but we are not allowed to confront shoplifters. The company I work for have and will fire employees for doing so. We have cctv and wear body cams so it’s easy to find out who’s said and done what.

That said, the police force local to me are trying to crack down on shoplifters but it can be complicated for different reasons. For example, junkies can be difficult to track down. It’s also often surprising who is nicking stuff. You know stuff is missing (we only put out 3 of each steak in my store because they always get nicked) and when we look back on the camera and be shocked about who’s stolen what.

It seems like it. As someone who works in a local small supermarket, the police do very little. It's rife because everyone now knows that very little is done about it. We just have to watch them walk away with it all. It is very frustrating.

We will end up like they have ended up in America where certain areas are food deserts because the supermarkets are all closing down due to theft. A few of them lost $1 million the year before they closed. So no food locally, plus no jobs.

I work in a convenience supermarket, all we can do is catch them as they approach the store then ask them not to enter or show that we’ve spotted them and ask them to leave. I don’t like doing it some of them are intimidating , if they have a bag full of stuff I’m not gonna fight them for it (some staff will try and grab it back) I’d just rather they leave asap
the police don’t do anything. We are told to not try and take stock back or block their exit in our training as that puts us at risk

An ex of mine used to work in a supermarket during uni, when they caught a shoplifter they put him in a room and asked my burly 6’4” bf to sit in there with him, he said the bloke was jittery the whole time. When the police arrived they searched the shoplifter and found a knife. Doesn’t bear thinking about what things had been swirling round in his mind, things could’ve gone seriously wrong. Things like this need to be considered when stopping them, it’s scary nowadays.

Total lawlessness. It’ll all go digital and home delivery eventually if there’s no crackdown.

Also to add, previously police and courts between them have done fuck all. So before the latest action being taken I think most of the thieves didn’t even bother running from the store, more strolled. This angers paying customers which I completely accept. What I don’t and won’t accept is said customers screaming at me and my colleagues for doing nothing about it (legally and contractually we can’t and anyway, we don’t get paid enough to). We’ve also had a small wave of pensioners stealing from us; newspapers, biscuits, cider) I’m guessing because they see others getting away with it. The thing is, they get caught. And publicly banned from the shop. We ban everyone who steals from us- once we’ve caught them in the act.

Doubt it. More women shoplifters round here, at least. And a lot of them are very violent.

WH Smith/TG Jones doesnt fire staff who wrongly accuse customers. Ask me how i know

My son has just resigned from a job delivering for supermarkets as he is so fed up of gangs of kids and adults threatening him and surrounding him, taking stuff he is unloading outside customers houses.

😳

9 times out of 10 someone will shop lift while I am in the local Tesco - men run in a grab all the laundry liquid, they grab all the wine etc. People walk out without paying for full bags of shopping. DP was in there one day and a young lad jumped over the perspect shield to grab the spirits and cigarets, woman in full face veil walked out with unpaid for bag... its mental. we don't let the kids go there on their own anymore.

One shop in our locality has a camera and a door which can be locked from behind the counter. As soon as they spot a shoplifter they wait for them to approach the door then lock it and try to retrieve the items they are attempting to steal.
Most of those being apprehended do give the stuff back but the staff are taking a huge risk and Im not sure it legal. They say they are hoping that by keep posting these clips they will deter others from trying it on and that they are seeing less attempts as word is getting out.

I know if I was staff I wouldn’t be stopping them.

AIBU to ask if shoplifting has effectively been decriminalised?

It has. As has mobile phone mugging.

Yep, and don’t forget rape.

Shops need to set up memberships schemes with id entry. No membership no entry. Those who shoplift will be denied membership. To access shops you have to go through a swipe system witb a non cross a ble barrier.

Also as part of the membership process you have to declare your criminal record. Those who cannot access shops have to go to gov shops set up for them

Some key words for you...................facial recognition B&M Home Bargains

Lets make sure this is infallible first before we move into even more tech eh