I was asked by a retailer today if they should call the police on a shoplifter they caught? I said yes! I can’t imagine why you would not.
Regardless of whether the police will take the matter further or not, it is respectful yo the business and yourself to do everything possible to bring people caught shoplifting to account.
I am posing this issue here to hear what others think. Would you report every shoplifter?
I have not in the past maybe I should have but to me its a waste of everyones time , just a personal opinion . One could say well that’s part of the problem that no one reports .
Given the law is such an ass its hard to do!
We cannot detain them, we cannot search their bags, we cannot touch them.
I have, however followed them down the mall shouting that they are thieves.
it takes at least 30 min for them to arrive and then another 30 mintues to interogate me instead of the shoplifter. great law! keep stealing Australia!
Yep, report them. Was advised that by my brother (a cop for 17 years) and some of the Police that come in. That way if they are are caught elsewhere (and if they are doing it to you they are almost certainly doing it elsewhere) when they go before the court a pattern of previous crime is evident and they aren’t dealt with as a first offender.
I had an incident with a small gang recently shop lifting paint in which I had a minor scuffle with them which was reported to the Police. The Police were able to identify the particular group of young shits which helped them in regard to some other incidents in the area.
We used to detain and charge every shoplifter we caught. Centre security became less than useless and they would no longer assist in detaining offenders until police arrived.
I have been punched, stabbed with syringes, spat on and had many scuffles. I have been in trouble with the police, centre mgt and my wife on my approach to defending myself and my property which was basically to never back down. Its just too hard these days to do much about it and with the proliferation of drug affected offenders it is a different beast we are dealing with.
I now just aim for stock recovery and get rid of them out of the store and don’t let them in next time.
This is how Glenn’s do it….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS1E6RPvvE8
You can detain them, can ask to see inside bags and if you get a reputation for taking action you will be a less attractive target. Yes in a lot of cases the police are useless but they fail to see or ignore that these crimes will likely progress to grander ones if there are no consequences for every theft. We still have thefts but I’m sure our hard line has benefited us over the long haul and yes I do as Brett does in letting people in the near vicinity know that this person is a thief and we have caught them at it.
I recently did the same as Brett and Brendan have done in letting everybody know that a woman was a known shoplifter…..she filed a peace order against me and I had to go to court last week. Judge has ordered the 2 of us to a mediation office (a date to be advised)….what a waste of everybodys time….the court, the judge, the police and mine. Apart from the time away from my store I had to cancel parent teacher interviews as well……not sure what this person is trying to achieve….but on a bright note the order cost her $92.00.
We have placed a lifetime ban on a customer this week from entering our premises after she was caught filling her newspaper with about forty dollars worth of magazines and stock. The officer who followed up said it is the third time he has arrested this woman (aged in her 60s) in about 18 months. We’ve been trying to get her for years as we’ve suspected, new cameras and a vigilant staff member means she will not escape her day in court, again, but we have sent a strong message to her and many others in our community that we will prosecute for any amount and any person and that news spreads like wildfire. Watching her back on camera she was skilled, the staff member was literally in close proximity to her. She was a regular customer “friendly, nice” lady – even stopping to have a chat with the staff member after filling her newspaper! Zero tolerance here.
We caught somebody on camera and downloaded a recording. Reports were filled with the police. I spoke with other retailers, they knew the woman, she had been caught before and was known to the police.
Nothing happened except that 2 months later they closed the local police station.
Last week I told a repeat offender what I thought of her to her face. I did it away from the premises and only after I had the camera evidence. I told her if she wanted to take it further, be my guest.
Not sure if I would involve the police again. Doubt it.