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.

The police have told us that they don’t have the resources to arrest everyone that steals. We as staff can’t do anything because we could lose our jobs and it’s maddening to watch them take whatever they want without consequences knowing that everyone else will foot the bill for it because prices will go up to cover the loss.

It's really not staff responsibility to stop them imo. And police really should have better things to worry about.

A baby in America just got shot by cops who wrongly thought the mum had stolen nappies. I prefer people being able to walk out the shop without paying for their food over that. With every fibre of my being.

I feel so naive reading this thread 😂

I don't see why it couldn't work the same as when you buy petrol - they put a pre-authorisation on your card to a certain amount. Then the actual amount you spend is what is ultimately deducted. That tech has already been in place for a number of years so wouldn't be hard to roll out, and isn't giving any more data away than you would already do if you pay by card anyway.

You'd have to scan your receipt or card to exit (a system which a lot of self-service tills already have). There could be a separate exit by the security guard for people who don't buy anything - yes technically someone could still stuff a pack of biscuits down their jumper but they wouldn't escape with whole trolleys worth of stuff, and they would have to go through a security gate first so anything with a security label would beep.

The only disadvantage would be people who prefer to pay with cash, but how many people still do that? And there could still be a workaround if you wanted to pay with cash at the till as long as you had a card to use for the pre-authorisation. perhaps you could get pre-pay cards etc.

The amazon grocery stores in the US pretty much already work that way, with the added tech of them being able to calculate what you owe as you walk out with it without you having to queue and pay - that could be another option.

While people have concerns about tech, something not working properly is a possible negative outcome, whereas constant shop lifting isn't a hypothetical but is actually happening.

At the end of the day shops aren't going to do anything until the easier option (charging the law-abiding 95% more to cover the loss of the thieving X%) stops working, so it will be on us to change it. If one supermarket successfully implements an alternative it will be up to consumers to vote with their feet - if it means cheaper prices for them and a nicer experience without scabs nicking stuff so feel that 'giving away' data supermarkets already have access to via CCTV, clubcard and bank cards is a worthwhile exchange.

Only witnessed 1 shoplifting incident in recent memory. A tween boy with a puffa jacket was walking near me in my local Lidl when a sharing bag of sweets fell out in front of him.

Probably wrong of me, but I did laugh.

No problem.

I’m not going to deny the system can be a bit frustrating and slow, but shoplifting absolutely is prosecuted. A cursory google search shows around 50,000 prosecutions for shoplifting in the last year, which is about what I would expect.

That’s not to say people don’t get away with it, of course they do, that’s the nature of crime and society. But it does grate when people say X or Y ‘has effectively been decriminalised’ because 50,000 convictions is not ‘decriminalisation’ to anyone with half a brain.

It’s quite rare that people steal things they want for themselves.

The majority are sell-on items. Popular items are washing pods (the kind that are £10 a box), meat (£8 a steak type thing), perfume and electrical items (hair stylers, shavers etc).

There are some of course who go right the other way and get violent and threatening. Between us we have had: bottles of wine chucked at us, threats of rape, threats with a used needle and a broken bottle, threats of coming back later with a samurai sword, a hand round the throat, repeated kicks to the head, a drunk getting his knob out, punch in the stomach. This doesn’t include the name calling. And this is a “nice” area.

Could be why we’re banned from confronting and especially from chasing them. We can politely ask for them to hand back what they’ve taken before they leave. You can guess how success that strategy is.

I wish we could! Not allowed to do that, apparently it’s a breach of GDPR. Not allowed to have pictures out the back either to warn colleagues to watch out for certain people. All we can do is ask each other on our headsets things like “do you recognise the bloke in the 3rd aisle by the red wine wearing x, x height, red backpack looks like a total scat bag ?”

If we were allowed pictures up in our windows you’d not be able to see out 🙃

I was once at a local PACT meeting and the local post office was telling the police that she reported every incident. But the police told her no reports had been recorded. She was furious. She reporting on the 101 live chat. So obviously nothing was recorded anywhere.
When the two local shoplifters died of drug overdose (very sad) . The crime in her shop halved!
I know people say what about a mother stealing baby milk and bread, but it’s not is it?
Its someone clearing the shelf of Kendamil baby milk and steak and laundry detergent ( the pods) and alcohol!

I saw a couple walk into supermarket, fill their bags with tons of food. Walked out, no challenge.
When I was leaving, I saw them come back.
There should be proper deterrents like exploding ink or doors that trap the feckers until the police arrive.

Free food for some while the prices rise for the rest of us. Supermarkets are raking it in anyway.

in a few years we will have to provide preauthorisation to enter stores. Like that Amazon one. It benefits no one.

I’ve seen so many people not scan things when using the scan and go system in my local shop. They literally scan a few things then will pop in a bottle of coke or cheese or book or something and not scan it . I always wonder how those people get caught as they are paying for a chunk of their shopping? Do supermarkets not care as long as they are buying something?!

I wonder how this works on the scales?
Unless of course the thing is not touching the scales.
The few times I have accidentally typed 5 apples or whatever and there's been 6 in my paper bag, the red light goes on and someone comes over!

Yup. Maybe that's true. And I still don't care. I care that rapists get let off with a suspended sentence, that child abusers are allowed to keep their kids, that the police tell victims they're making it up, that there are kids starving to death on the same planet where there are trillionaires. I care that innocent people are raped, tortured and murdered in the name of "war" I care that a baby got shot over stolen nappies.

I don't care that a drug addict stole GHDs from Tesco and sold them on vinted. And I don't want someone being paid minimum wage to work in Tesco fighting with that person. Nor do I want the police spending time trying to find that person who really doesn't care about being arrested for it when they could should be protecting victims.

Well, that escalated.

prefer people being able to walk out the shop without paying for their food over that. With every fibre of my being.

What do you think would happen if everyone walked out of shops without paying?

Morality is a funny thing

Years and years ago when I was small there waere junkies that would sell like meat and laundry liquid to order. There were people who would buy the stuff, but also be very vocal and disapproving about how awful it was that the people stole it/that they got away with stealing/country going to the dogs etc. But they were participating by buying the stolen stuff... Strange

The people producing the food, often already poorly paid abroad, would be paid even less.

@Esmeraldathe3rd can’t you care about both?
to not care about widespread thieving which is barely reported let alone resulting in prosecution? It seems like a breakdown in morality.

I think that's why we're seeing more and more stuff locked up. They know they can't really stop it happening so they just lock away the most expensive stuff

They need to have armed security guards that are permitted to use every means necessary to stop and detain shoplifters. Not in every store, just in random ones every day, so the shoplifters don't know. No decent, law-abiding person would have a problem with this, ignore the usual bleating of the "human rights" brigade.

They don’t weigh the scan and go stuff. I used it in Tesco once and they looked through my bags when I went to pay because it was the first time I had used it but you keep your bags in the trolley. I was shocked I didn’t have to get them out to be weighed and the assistant just shrugged when I asked how they know people haven’t stolen anything.