Theft on the rise
Retailers battle more shopliftersBy AMANDA WHISTLE, The Leader-Herald
Local crime statistics may reflect a national trend of increases in shoplifting arrests across the country, retail and law enforcement authorities said.
Montgomery County sheriff's deputies made 108 petit larceny arrests in 2009 - that's up from 90 in 2008 and 73 in 2007. The trend rings true for grand larceny as well, as those arrests spiked by 50 percent, from 12 in 2008 to 24 in 2009.
Though Montgomery County Undersheriff Jeffery T. Smith was unsure of the exact percentage of larceny cases that are related to retail theft, he said a large amount of petit larceny - or the theft of anything under $1,000?- occurs in the stores along Route 30 in the city.
"It's difficult to say why the numbers go up or down," Smith said, "Technology has increased drastically so, when someone steals something from a store, they can catch them with cameras and surveillance."
Smith also listed the poor economy as a catalyst that might drive people to shoplift, and mentioned that some shoplifting cases can be drug-related.
"Some of them are drug-related because people who have drug habits may be stealing things to [resell] and get cash to buy drugs," Smith said.
Charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance include drugs like heroine and cocaine. Sheriff's deputies more than doubled those arrests from 2007 to 2009, with eight arrests for criminal possession of a controlled substance in 2007, 10 arrests in 2008 and 18 arrests in 2009.
Smith said he was unsure if the increases in larceny and shoplifting are connected.
"There are probably always going to be drugs out there," Smith said.
The Fulton County sheriff's department has seen similar increases in petit larceny arrests with 218 in 2008 and 260 in 2009, but Undersheriff Kevin Lenahan said he doesn't recall many of the arrests being tied to shoplifting, and said the sheriff's department is more concerned with the increase in residential burglary arrests, which increased from 99 in 2008 to 131 in 2009.
"I would say the bad economic times we're in right now are a major cause," Lenahan said.
According to research from the National Association of Shoplifting Prevention, about 3 percent of theft at retail stores in the U.S. is from professional shoplifters who steal merchandise to resell it and make a profit as a business.
"These include drug addicts who steal to feed their habit, hardened professionals who steal as a lifestyle and international shoplifting gangs who steal as a profit for business," according to the NASP Web site, www.shopliftingprevention.org.
The NASP collects their data for research from offenders who are ordered by courts across the country to enroll in their shoplifting rehabilitation programs.
"We have seen a significant number of people referred to our organization and several reports of increases [in shoplifting]," Barbara Straib, a spokeswoman for NASP, said.
Smith said deputies have seen some reselling of shoplifted merchandise in the county, but much of what is stolen on Route 30 ends up being sold in cities outside of the county.
According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer, an annual study released by the Centre for Retail Research in England, retailers across the U.S. lost $42 million in 2009 and saw an average increase of 8.8 percent in lost revenue from stolen goods compared to 2008.
Erika Svingen, a spokeswoman for Target Corp., said the retailer has been focusing efforts to crack down on organized retail crime since 2003.
"Organized retail crime is different from shoplifting because it's typically a larger scale criminal operation that involves individuals and gangs of sophisticated well-connected criminals that are stealing merchandise with the intent of reselling it," Svingen said.
Svingen said these criminals steal everything from electronics, like iPods, to baby formula and razor cartridges.
"Since online auction sites have risen in popularity they can sell these items to the entire world," she said.
Bills introduced in the U.S. Senate and Congress in 2009 could place more regulations on the auction?Web sites, especially regarding the potential sale of stolen merchandise.
The bills will likely go to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security in November, Svingen said.
As far as the markup that consumers pay for lost revenue from shoplifting and organized retail theft, Svingen couldn't provide an exact percentage for merchandise at Target.
Walmart loss prevention officers from the Amsterdam store on Route 30 were unable to comment and Price Chopper officials did not return phone calls.
Retail theft costs the average family $208 per year in markups, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer.
Laurie Lawton of Broadalbin, a shopper outside of Target in Amsterdam on Saturday, said she wasn't surprised by how much shoplifting costs the average family.
"I've seen those statistics before," Lawton said. "I think it's awful that people shoplift-it just hurts everybody. I think the worse the worse the economy gets the more theft we'll see."
Amanda Whistle covers Montgomery County. She can be reached by e-mail at montco@leaderherald.com
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JohnSteady
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02-08-10 10:54 AM
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I don't stop for the alarm at wally world, I have my receipt for proof I paided for my stuff, they can get out their walkers and catch up to me at my vehicle. I stopped once and "Granny" took her time looking thru everything even after I showed her the DVD that was the culprit, after that I don't stop. They need to train their cashiers better to deactivate the tags. I want to get a hold of the tags and put them on the bottom of the shopping carts to drive them nuts.
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ResMed
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02-08-10 8:06 AM
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When I was 16 back in 1989 I stole a cassette from a Jamesway store where I used to live on a dare from a "friend". Well no sooner did we leave the store I was stopped by security, turned over to the local police and later sentenced to fifty hours of community service at a nursing home. It was probably the best thing that could happen to me and surely did straighten me out never to steal again. It isn't just drug addicts and welfare recipients that steal BTW, people of all ages, races and income brackets steal for whatever reason they may have.
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chris69
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02-08-10 5:03 AM
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put it all in perpective look at just who causes most of shoplifting it doesn't take a college degree to figure that out. keep giving thoes social service programs to the lazy uneducated plight that we foster put the blame right where it belongs
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upstatereformer
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02-08-10 1:54 AM
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not everyone
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HomeTownGuy
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02-07-10 9:48 PM
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The news always says that crime rates are down..The Sheriff says they are rising.. The news says the stimulus will create jobs.They just don't say that the jobs created are overseas. The news says the unemployment figures are getting better. They just don't report as to how many people have run out of benifits.. It is all Blah..Blah...Blah and everyone belives.
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stratford
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02-07-10 9:22 PM
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The Fulton County gop just stole my town and county taxes. Lock them up!
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Knickman
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02-07-10 7:14 PM
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The Governor and legislature may want to think twice about closing prisons, we made need the capacity.
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Discobulous
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02-07-10 11:28 AM
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All we ever stole was Playboy magazines. Perhaps the Arabs have it right. You know what they do.
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GoGreen
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02-07-10 10:39 AM
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Fines and penalties for petit larceny need to be increased. First time offenders need to pay a hefty fine, second offense jail time. If it is a $5 dollar item or grand larceny - it is a crime. A slap an the wrist is not enough and in the end the consumers are the ones who get hit hard. Stand at the door at Walmart on a busy Sunday afternoon. That alarm goes off frequently while 2-3 people exit. Usually the confused, innocent party will stop and hold out a receipt while the others quickly continue to leave the store.
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