We've all seen similar videos to this one below.
Shoplifting has become endemic. Gangs of youths are rushing into shops, grabbing everything they can lay their hands on, then fleeing in all directions, causing chaos and making it almost impossible to catch them.
Individual shoplifters treat their crime as a 'job'. They steal on a regular basis, and, if caught they simply hand-over the 'loot', and walk away. They refer to it amusingly as the 'five finger discount'.
So, what to do?
Well, I have a very simple solution. All shops should (by law) have a single exit with a double door self locking system, which would be triggered as soon as any shoplifter heads for the outer door. Once beyond the first door, and before passing through the second, both doors would lock, trapping the thief and his/her swag inside. They would then be arrested at once, and detained in a secure room before the Shoplifting Police arrive. Once detained they MUST be prosecuted, and heavily fined (minimum £5,000); however small an object they attempted to steal. They would then be either imprisoned, or (preferably) securely chained to a very large lump of concrete outside their own home, and not released until the fine was paid in full.
This epidemic (for that is what it is) must be stamped out. Shops are closing by the dozen because of high overheads, and if shoplifting continues at its present rate, we'll end-up with very few High Street stores, and only huge out-of-town superstores with very rigorous security systems.
It needs to be nipped in the bud, and 'shoplifting' made into a serious offence; which it once was.
"shops are closing by the dozen because of high overheads.." and adding the security measures you outlined in the paragraph above that would just add to the high overheads, so many shops would just close anyway. I have no other ideas for any solutions though.
ReplyDeleteThey might save on the amount being stolen daily. Apparently shoplifting costs retailers in the UK around £12 Million per day, which amounts to costing the average shopper about £180 per annum. So that saving would go someway to paying for the security systems.
DeleteShip them off to Australia.
ReplyDeleteI fear they wouldn't accept them; they probably have enough of their own.
DeleteMy friend volunteers in a charity shop in town. She tells us of women who shoplift in teams. Several of them come in together. Their loose fitting clothes cover up multiple pockets which are useful for secretly hiding stuff once lifted off the shelves. My friend watches them like a hawk. She stands next to them when they do their dirty deeds, and yells at them to put stuff back. To no avail, they ignore her and run away. My friend is feisty but is no match for three or four women intent on taking whatever they want. Perhaps if she could patrol the shop with a snarling German Shepherd, that would make people think twice about stealing.
ReplyDeleteThey are so brazen. They simply don't care being caught because they know there's no reprisal.
DeleteI have a suspicion that this is another symptom of societal breakdown, fuelled by a police force that has, to all intents and purposes, abandoned any attempts to address low-level criminal behaviour. We see it in the failure to address burglary. I fear that such behaviour will only get worse as the elites in their gated communities are far more interested in trans nonsense than in dealing with behaviour that they ensure they don't have to suffer the consequences of.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't blame the rich for protecting themselves, but the Police should be protecting the rest of us. In most cases all you get from them is a 'Crime Number'.
DeleteThey could chop off their hands, but that would be rather messy and put an extra burden on A&E.
ReplyDeleteWe'd have to introduce Sharia Law first, and I can't see that being popular.
DeleteGood solution, but in our village shop lifters when caught have become violent to staff and the police do not attend quickly if at all. Our local shops have a Whatsapt group and inform each other if know thieves are about, so they can watch their doors and stop them entering the shops. It has moved some of the undesirables along.
ReplyDeleteMost criminals would become violent if they risked being caught. They simply don't care! Prevention is probably better than cure.
DeleteIt seems that some shoplifters are becoming quite brazen - often operating in gangs as you suggest. I would not wish to be a lowly paid shop assistant - sometimes obliged to challenge these bold thieves.
ReplyDeleteIn the USA you'd probably just shoot them, but it's not so easy here. Maybe our shop assistants should keep a water pistol or a spud gun under the counter!
DeleteMuch is shouted about shoplifting by others..very little about that done by staff..which is 40%
ReplyDeletehttps://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2023/11/retail-crime-employees-theft/#:~:text=Employees%20account%20for%2040%25%20of,loss%20of%20%C2%A33.2bn.
Probably seen as 'perks'.
DeleteI feel sure they would much rather have a meaningful role and sense of future, but our country does not seem able to offer them that.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of jobs out there, it's just a matter of finding people who are willing to work.
Delete