Shoplifting

This article is about the crime. For the band, see Shoplifting (band). For the album, see Straw (band).

Shoplifting (also known as boosting; five-finger discount, or shrinkage within the retail industry) is theft of goods from a retail establishment. It is one of the most common crimes.

Most shoplifters are amateurs; however, there are people and groups who make their living from shoplifting, who tend to be more skilled. Generally, criminal theft involves taking possession of property illegally. In the case of shoplifting, customers are allowed by the property owner to take physical possession of the property by holding or moving it. This leaves areas of ambiguity that could criminalize some people for simple mistakes, such as accidental hiding of a small item or forgetting to pay. For this reason penalties for shoplifting are often lower than those for general theft. Few jurisdictions have specific shoplifting legislation with which to differentiate it from other forms of theft, so reduced penalties are usually at a judge's discretion. Most retailers are aware of the seriousness of making a false arrest, and will only attempt to apprehend a person if their guilt is undoubted. Depending on local laws, arrests made by anyone other than law enforcement officers may also be illegal.

Overview

Shoplifting is the act of knowingly obtaining goods from an establishment in which merchandise is displayed for sale, without paying for them. Usually shoplifting involves concealing items on the person of the thief or an accomplice, and leaving the store with them without paying. However, shoplifting is also considered to include price switching, refund fraud, "wardrobing" (returning clothes after they have been worn) and "grazing" (eating your way around a store).

Economists say shoplifting is common because it is a relatively unskilled crime with low entry barriers that can be fitted into a normal lifestyle. People of every nation, race, ethnicity, gender and class shoplift. Originally, analysis of data about apprehended shoplifters and interviews with store security staff suggested that females were almost twice as likely as males to shoplift. However, since 1980 data suggest that boys and men are equally or more likely to shoplift than girls and women. The average person who has shoplifted first did it at the age of ten: shoplifting tends to peak in the mid-teen years and then steadily decline thereafter. People of all races shoplift equally, and poor people shoplift only slightly more than rich people. Men tend to shoplift using knapsacks, and women using strollers. The average apprehended shoplifter is caught with $200 worth of unpaid-for merchandise.

In the United States, shoplifting increases during the Christmas season, and arrest rates increase during spring break.

Rutgers University criminologist Ronald V. Clarke says shoplifters steal "hot products" that are "CRAVED," an acronym he created that stands for "concealable, removable, available, valuable, enjoyable and disposable."

The most commonly shoplifted item used to be cigarettes, until stores started keeping them behind the cash register. Commonly shoplifted items are usually small and easy to hide, such as groceries, especially steak and instant coffee, razor blades and cartridges, small technology items such as iPods, smartphones, USB flash drives, earphones, CDs and DVDs, cosmetics, jewelry, vitamins, pregnancy tests, electric toothbrushes and clothing. In the United States, frequently shoplifted books include ones by authors Charles Bukowski, Jim Thompson, Philip K. Dick, Martin Amis, Paul Auster, Georges Bataille, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Italo Calvino, Don DeLillo, Raymond Chandler, Michel Foucault, Dashiell Hammett, Jack Kerouac and other Beat generation writers, Jeanette Winterson, Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Mark Z. Danielewski. (See Book store shoplifting.)

Shoplifting peaks between three and four in the afternoon, and is lowest from six to seven in the morning.

In several countries, criminal flash mobs, made up of large numbers primarily of teenagers and young adults, enter stores with the intention of stealing merchandise by distracting salespeople and cashiers.

History

Shopliffting, originally called "lifting," is as old as shopping. The first documented shoplifting started to take place in 16th century London, and was carried out by groups of men called lifters. In 1591, playwright Robert Greene published a pamphlet titled The Second Part of Cony Catching, in which he described how three men could conspire to shoplift clothes and fabric from London merchants. When it was first documented, shoplifting was characterized as an underworld practice: shoplifters were also con artists, pickpockets, pimps, or prostitutes.

In the late 17th century, London shopkeepers began to display goods in ways designed to attract shoppers, such as in window displays and glass cases. This made the goods more accessible for shoppers to handle and examine, which historians say led to an acceleration of shoplifting.

The word shoplift (then, shop-lift) first appeared at the end of the 17th century in books like The Ladies Dictionary, which, as well as describing shoplifting, provided tips on losing weight and styling hair. Female shoplifters of this period were also called "Amazons" or "roaring girls." Notorious female shoplifters in London included Mary Frith, the pickpocket and fence also known as Moll Cutpurse, prostitute and pickpocket Moll King, Sarah McCabe whose shoplifting career spanned twenty years, and Maria Carlston (also known as Mary Blacke), whose life was documented by diarist Samuel Pepys, who was eventually executed for theft, and who for years shoplifted clothing and household linens in London with one or more female accomplices.

In 1699, the English Parliament passed The Shoplifting Act, part of the Bloody Code that punished petty crimes with death. People convicted of shoplifting items worth more than five shillings would be hanged in London's Tyburn Tree (known as the "Tyburn jig") with crowds of thousands watching, or would be transported to the North American colonies or to Botany Bay in Australia. Some merchants found The Shoplifting Act overly severe, jurors often deliberately under-valued the cost of items stolen so convicted shoplifters would escape death, and reformist lawyers advocated for the Act's repeal, but The Shoplifting Act was supported by powerful people such as Lord Ellenborough, who characterized penal transportation as "a summer airing to a milder climate" and the archbishop of Canterbury, who believed that strong punishment was necessary to prevent a dramatic increase in crime. As England began to embrace Enlightenment ideas about crime and punishment in the 18th century, opposition to the Bloody Code began to grow. The last English execution for shoplifting was carried out in 1822, and in 1832 the House of Lords reclassified shoplifting as a non-capital crime.

By the early 19th century, shoplifting was believed to be primarily a female activity, and doctors began to redefine some shoplifting as what Swiss doctor André Matthey had then newly christened "klopemania" (kleptomania), from the Greek words "kleptein" (stealing) and "mania" (insanity). Kleptomania was primarily attributed to wealthy and middle-class women, and in 1896 was criticized by anarchist Emma Goldman as a way for the rich to excuse their own class from punishment, while continuing to punish the poor for the same acts.

In the 1960s, shoplifting began to be redefined again, this time as a political act. In his 1970 book Do It: Scenarios of the Revolution, American activist Jerry Rubin wrote "All money represents theft...shoplifting gets you high. Don't buy. Steal," and in The Anarchist Cookbook, published in 1971, American author William Powell offered tips for how to shoplift. In his 1971 book Steal This Book, American activist Abbie Hoffman offered tips on how to shoplift and argued that shoplifting is anti-corporate. In her book The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting, social historian Rachel Shteir described how shoplifting from companies you dislike is considered by some activist groups, such as some freegans, decentralized anarchist collective CrimethInc, the Spanish anarchist collective Yomango and the Canadian magazine Adbusters, to be a morally defensible act of corporate sabotage.

Motivations

Researchers divide shoplifters into two categories: "boosters," professionals who resell what they steal, and "snitches," amateurs who steal for their personal use.

Motivations for shoplifting are controversial among researchers, although they generally agree that shoplifters are driven by either economic or psychosocial motives. Psychosocial motivations may include peer pressure, a desire for thrill or excitement, impulse, intoxication, or compulsion.

Depression is the psychiatric disorder most commonly associated with shoplifting. Shoplifting is also associated with family or marital stress, social isolation, having had a difficult childhood, alcoholism or drug use, low self-esteem, and eating disorders, with bulimic shoplifters frequently stealing food. Some researchers have theorized that shoplifting is an unconscious attempt to make up for a past loss.

Researchers have found that the decision to shoplift is associated with pro-shoplifting attitudes, social factors, opportunities for shoplifting and the perception that the shoplifter is unlikely to be caught. Researchers say that shoplifters justify their shoplifting through a variety of personal narratives, such as believing they are making up for having been victimized, that they are unfairly being denied things they deserve, or that the retailers they steal from are untrustworthy or immoral. Sociologists call these narratives neutralizations, meaning mechanisms people use to silence values within themselves that would otherwise prevent them from carrying out a particular act.

A 1984 program in West Texas designed to reduce recidivism among convicted adult shoplifters identified eight common irrational beliefs of shoplifters:

• If I am careful and smart, I will not get caught.
• Even if I do get caught, I will not be turned in and prosecuted.
• Even if I am prosecuted, the punishment will not be severe.
• The merchants deserve what they get.
• Everybody, at some time or another, has shoplifted; therefore it’s ok for me to do it.
• Shoplifting is not a major crime.
• I must have the item I want to shoplift or if I want it, I should have it.
• It is okay to shoplift because the merchants expect it.

Developmental psychologists believe that children under the age of nine shoplift to test boundaries, and that tweens and teenagers shoplift mainly for excitement, are acting out or depressed, or are being pressured by their peers.

Differences by geography

Researches say that around the world, in countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Japan and India, people tend to shoplift the same types of items, and frequently even the same brands.

But there are also differences in shoplifting among different countries that reflect those countries' general consumption habits and preferences. In Milan, saffron, an expensive component of risotto alla Milanese, is frequently shoplifted, and throughout Italy, parmigiano reggiano is often stolen from supermarkets. In Spain, jamón ibérico is a frequent target. In France the anise-flavoured liqueur ricard is frequently stolen, and in Japan, experts believe that manga comics, electronic games and whisky are most frequently stolen. Bookstores and magazine sellers in Japan have also complained about what they call "digital shoplifting," which refers to the photographing of material in-store for later reading. Packed cheese has been the most frequently shoplifted item in Norway, with thieves selling it afterwards to pizza parlours and fast food restaurants.

Economic impact and response from shops

Retailers report that shoplifting has a significant effect on their bottom line, stating that about 0.6% of all inventory disappears to shoplifters. In 2001, it was claimed that shoplifting cost US retailers $25 million a day. Observers believe that industry shoplifting numbers are over half of by employee theft or fraud and the rest by patrons. Of course, if apprehended during the shoplifting the merchandise is generally recovered by the retailers and there is often no loss to the store owner when the merchandise is surrendered to the store by the suspects. In addition, in many states retailers have the right to recover civil damages to cover the cost of providing security.

According to a December 23, 2008 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dimperio's Market, the only full service grocery store in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is closing because of shoplifters.

Punishment

Main article: Shopkeeper's privilege

Shoplifting is considered a form of theft and is subject to prosecution.

United States

In the state of California, and in most cases the rest of the United States, store employees and managers have certain powers of arrest. Store officials may detain for investigation (for a reasonable length of time), the person who they have probable cause to believe is attempting to take or has unlawfully taken merchandise (see shopkeeper's privilege). At the very least, staff usually have citizen's arrest powers. Title 13, Chapter 5, of the California Penal Code Section 490.5(f)(1) allows an employee to detain a suspected shoplifter for a reasonable amount of time.

Generally, in the United States, the store employees who detain suspects outside of and inside the store premises are allowed by state statute limited powers of arrest and have the power to initiate criminal arrests or civil sanctions, or both, depending upon the policy of the retailer and the state statutes governing civil demands and civil recovery for shoplifting as reconciled with the criminal laws of the jurisdiction.

Retailers in the United States may have the authority under state laws to request civil recovery demands.

Middle East

In the Islamic legal system called Sharia, "hudud" (meaning limits or restrictions) calls for "Sariqa" (theft) to be punished by amputation of the thief's hand. This punishment is categorized as "haad," meaning a punishment that restrains or prevents further crime. Sariqa is interpreted differently in different countries and by different scholars, and some say it does not include shoplifting. But, in Saudi Arabia shoplifters' hands may be amputated.

Anti-shoplifting options

Shoplifting may be prevented and detected. Both options contribute to sound strategies.

Closed circuit television

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring is an important anti-shoplifting technology. Retailers focusing on loss prevention often devote most of their resources to this technology. Using CCTVs to apprehend shoplifters in the act requires full-time human monitoring of the cameras. Sophisticated CCTV systems discriminate the scenes to detect and segregate suspicious behaviour from numerous screens and to enable automatic alerting. However, the attentiveness of the surveillance personnel may be threatened by false reliance on automatics. CCTV is more effective if used in conjunction with electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems. The EAS system will warn of a potential shoplifter and the video may provide evidence for prosecution if the shoplifter is allowed to pass checkout points or leave store premises with unbought merchandise.

Electronic article surveillance

Electronic article surveillance (EAS) is second only to CCTV in popularity amongst retailers looking for inventory protection. EAS refers to the security tags that are attached to merchandise and cause an alarm to sound on exiting the store. Some stores also have detection systems at the entrance to the bathrooms that sound an alarm if someone tries to take unpaid merchandise with them into the bathroom. Regularly, even when an alarm does sound, a shoplifter walks out casually and is not confronted if no guards are present. This is due to the high number of false alarms, especially in malls, due to "tag pollution" whereby non-deactivated tags from other stores set off the alarm. This can be overcome with newer systems and a properly trained staff. Some new systems either do not alarm from "tag pollution" or they produce a specific alarm when a customer enters the store with a non-deactivated tag so that store personnel can remove or deactivate it so it does not produce a false alarm when exiting the store. However, with tags that are stuck onto merchandise with glue (rather than being superimposed on) the shoplifter can easily scrape off the tag in their pocket. Some EAS systems have keypads with monitors that beep showing the response time on the screen when the alarm sounds to ensure that employees respond to the alarm.

Loss prevention personnel

Loss prevention personnel (commonly known as a store detective) will patrol the store acting as if they are real shoppers. They may browse, examine, carry or even try on merchandise, all the while looking for signs of shoplifting and looking for possible shoplifters. Many large retail companies use this technique, and will watch a shoplifter conceal an item then stop them after they have exited the store. These types of personnel must follow a strict set of rules because of very high liability risks. Many big retail or grocery stores like Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, Zellers, Loblaws, etc. have a loss prevention officer to keep an eye out for shoplifters. Most of these stores use secret codes to alert management, LPs and associates of shoplifters. LP is a very crucial job in that they act as an ordinary shopper and have to follow the suspects all around the store by foot or by joining the cameras, and watch every move the person makes so that they don't face a lawsuit for apprehending the wrong person.

Uniformed guards

The presence of uniformed guards acts as a deterrent to shoplifting activity and they are mostly used by high-end retail establishments. However they are also used in stores like Target and Wal-Mart.

Exit inspections

Shoppers in some stores are asked when leaving the premises to have their purchases checked against the receipt. Costco and Best Buy are well known companies that employ this tactic. However, this is voluntary, as the store cannot legally detain the shopper unless they have probable cause to suspect the shopper of shoplifting.

Brazil

Shoppers in Brazil often have to leave their bags at the door on entering a store, and to receipt inspections when leaving. At popular restaurants called "comida a quilo" (food by the kilogram), it is usual to ask customers to return a "bilhete de liberdade" (liberty ticket) to the doorman. This is handed to the shopper along with the receipt for the customer to return to the doorman at the exit, which is usually only a couple metres away.

USA

In all 50 states, shoppers are under no actual obligation to accede to such a search unless the employee has reasonable grounds to suspect shoplifting, and arrests the customer or takes or looks at the receipt from the customer without violating any laws or if the customer has signed a membership agreement which stipulates that customers will subject themselves to inspections before taking the purchased merchandise from the store. In the cases of Sam's Club and Costco, the contracts merely say that it is their policy to check receipts at the exit or that they "reserve the right". That wording does not specify the results of non-compliance by the customer, and since they did not have a right to re-check receipts in the first place, it may not be legally binding at all. The purchaser who holds the receipt owns the merchandise. Employees who harass, assault, touch, or detain customers or take their purchased merchandise may be committing torts or crimes against the customers.

Customer service

Floor attendants are instructed to greet, follow, and offer help with customer shopping. Shoplifters are not comfortable with this attention and may go somewhere else where they can work unnoticed. In a 2008 global study conducted by NRMA, it found shoplifters are 68 percent less likely to commit the offence if they are greeted immediately as they walk into the retail store.

BOB mirrors

Bottom of basket mirrors are commonly used in grocery stores where the checkout lanes are close together and the cashier might be unable to see the entire basket to ensure payment of all items.

Locked merchandise

Some expensive merchandise will be in a locked case requiring an employee to get items at a customer's request. The customer is either required to purchase the merchandise immediately or it is left at the checkout area for the customer to purchase when finishing shopping. This prevents the customer from having a chance to conceal the item.

Another way of locking merchandise, especially popular in liquor stores, is to place a secure, store-administered hard-plastic cap on a regular bottle top. Once purchased the clerk will remove the cap with a store key. It is not otherwise easily removable.

Many stores also lock CDs, DVDs, and video games in locking cases, which can only be opened by the checkout operator once the item has gone through the checkout.

Dummy cases

Some stores will use dummy cases, also known as "dead boxes", where the box or case on the shelf is entirely empty and the customer will not be given the item they have paid for until the transaction has been completed, usually by other Store staff. Some stores have been known to take this idea further by filling the dummy cases or boxes with a weight, similar to the weight of the actual item by using a weight specially made to fit inside the box. This causes the shoplifter to think that the box is full, trying to steal it and ending up with nothing. This is especially popular in movie rental stores such as Blockbuster.

Personnel policy

The choice of store and security personnel can strongly affect the ability of shoplifters to succeed. All personnel must be trained in the techniques shoplifters use to steal merchandise and the proper actions to take.

Test shoppers

Test shopping is a strategy to test the detection means in a shop. Subject of testing is primarily the alertness of surveillance staff and of the staff operating in the shopping areas.

Notable cases

In 1897, accused murderer Lizzie Borden again received media attention when she was accused of shoplifting.

In 1937, French writer and political activist Jean Genet was arrested in Paris for shoplifting a dozen handkerchiefs from the department store Samaritaine. Genet frequently stole from shops throughout his life, including alcohol, bolts of linen, books and suits.

In 2001, actress Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting at Saks Fifth Avenue department store in Beverly Hills, California. Ryder was eventually convicted of misdemeanor theft and vandalism and will be eligible for expungement of the conviction after finishing probation. Ryder was originally convicted by a jury of felony larceny/vandalism and was sentenced in a nationally televised California Superior Court proceeding in December 2002.

In August 2010, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's daughter Caroline was arrested for stealing five beauty items worth about $100 from a Sephora store in Manhattan. She was later offered a dismissal in return for a day of community service and six months without a further offense. Ironically, Rudy Giuliani, a former United States Attorney, is known in the law enforcement community for being a proponent of zero tolerance, where police are told to arrest petty criminals as a way to deter major crimes.

See also

• Book store shoplifting
• Civil recovery
• Evasion, an autobiography detailing one man's shoplifting and dumpster diving-supported travels
• Exit control lock
• Fence (criminal)
• Kleptomania
• Larceny
• Library theft
• Loss prevention
• Organized retail crime
• Package pilferage
• Receipt of stolen property
• Retail loss prevention
• Yomango

Further reading

Books

• Shulman, Terrence Daryl (2003), Something for Nothing: Shoplifting Addiction and Recovery , Pennsylvania: Infinity Publishing, ISBN 0741417790
• Hoffman, Abbie (2002), Steal This Book, New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, ISBN 978-1-56858-217-7
• Budden, Michael Craig (1999), Preventing Shoplifting Without Being Sued, Westport, CT: Quorum Books, ISBN 978-1-56720-119-2
• Cupchik, Will (1997), Why Honest People Shoplift or Commit Other Acts Of Theft, Toronto: W. Cupchik, ISBN 978-1-896342-07-8
• Christman, John H. (2006), Shoplifting: Managing the Problem, Alexandria, VA: ASIS International, ISBN 978-1-887056-64-9
• Hayes, Read (1991), Retail Security and Loss Prevention, Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-7506-9038-6
• Horan, Donald J. (1996), The Retailer's Guide to Loss Prevention and Security, Boca Raton, FL: CRC, ISBN 978-0-8493-8110-2
• Kimieckik, Rudolf C. (1995), Loss Prevention Guide for Retail Businesses, New York: Wiley, ISBN 978-0-471-07636-0
• Sennewald, Charles A. (2000), Shoplifters vs Retailers: The Rights of Both, Chula Vista, CA: New Century Press, ISBN 978-1-890035-18-1
• Thomas, Chris (2005), Loss Prevention in the Retail Business, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, ISBN 978-0-471-72321-9
• Philip Purpura (2007). Security and Loss Prevention: An Introduction (5th ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-12-372525-7.
• Joshua Bamfield (2012). Shopping and Crime. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-39350-9.

Articles

• Cupchik, W. (1983), "Shoplifting: An Occasional Crime of the Moral Majority", Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 11 (4), American Academy Of Psychiatry And The Law: 343–54, PMID 6661563. {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Yomango "Shoplifting as Social Commentary" by Robert Andrews