Shoplifters range from blunderers to professionals . . .

Press, 16 November 1977, Page 21

Shoplifters range from blunderers to professionals . . .

By

JENNIFER HAMILTON

For many who stand distressed or shame-faced in the court dock, shoplifting is a personal and family tragedy.

For others it is a fulltime job done to order, or to raise some ready cash without hard work.

There are also those, particularly young offenders, who find it exhilarating to buck the system or impress friends with their daring.

Whatever it means to those who fleece New Zealand shops of million of dollars worth of stock each year, there is no stereotype for the neighbourhood shoplifter. Offenders come from all backgrounds, age groups Offenders come from all backgrounds, age groups and occupations. A retired shoplifter said she used to do a tour of the city shops and only stopped when she was almost caught stealing in a chemist shop. ”1 just did it for the hell of it. They could afford it and it was quite exciting.”

She said that her conscience never worried her at the time. Now she does not condone shiplifting and says that the hobby is much riskier now with store detectives around. Even in her time she know’ which shops to avoid, though, she said.

Shoplifting has become a national pastime — and a lucrative one at that. During a conversation overhead on a bus, one high school girl told her friend: Don’t ring me at 3.30 p.m., that’s my shoplifting time. And that’s the worse time for us, said the personnel supervisor at Havwrights in Colombo Street, (Mrs J. Wallace). There, toys are the main target but vanishing clothes are also a problem. The firm is considering hiring a person to supervise customers in fitting rooms, said Mrs Wallace. Staff are trained to keep an eye on customers and gaps in the shelves, but store detectives will be hired over Christmas. The shoplifing epedemic is blamed on the economic situation, and the temptation of open displays. However

retailers refuse to feel responsible when they arrange eye catching displays. “Customers like to examine the goods before they buy them. We have to look after the honest customer,” said one manager.

A bookseller who finds that paperbacks are readily filched from the shelves added: “It’s stealing, and we lose that much profit. After all, this is a business.”

She admitted that open displays make it difficult to check w'hether stock has disappeared. “Once I didn’t know the stuff had gone until the police returned it.” Like many other stores, Woolworths’ managers call in the police when a shoplifter is caught. “Our problem stops when the shoplifter is apprehended; then it is over to the police,” said the manager of the High Street store (Mr J. Humphreys). Even if the person has slipped a packet of razor blades or a bar of chocolate into his bag on the sly, the police are still summoned. “Twenty cents is as much thieving as $20,” said the South Island security manager for Woolworths (Mr P. I. Valentine). Wool wo rt h s New Zealand estimates that it loses at least SIM worth of stock from its shelves each year and they are cracking down hard on the petty pilferers.

As well as prominently displaying notices warning shoplifters that they will be prosecuted, the chain was among the first to hire store detectives. Their sole job is to watch customers, then apprehend those who leave without paying for goods. Detectives in the High Street branch had just finished dealing with an 18-year-old boy who had been caught trying to walk out with $lO worth of fireworks.

When the police arrived they found a $3O necklace and a $l5 knife from two other shoplifts. The store detectives routinely fill out a report on each offence to see if people come back a second time. They rarely do.

Yet in spite of tightened security, Mr Valentine believes that only one shoplifter in six is picked up. Some customers are suspected but detectives must be certain that they will find stolen goods before they apprehend someone, he said. Neighbourhood and small city shops are just as vulnerable as large department stores.

A record shop tired of losing expensive L.P, records has a large twoway mirror to keep an eye out for trouble and makes sure the cassette tapes on display are empty.

When customers are seen slipping a record into their bags they are usually told to replace it smartly. “They are so

embarrassed they usually end up buying the record," said the manager. This shopkeeper calls the police in occasionally but said that he finds the formalities timeconsuming while he waits for officers to arrive, fills in forms and perhaps has to appear in court later as a witness.

Other shops have had to rearrange their shops with counters next to the door so customers are more visible. “I resent having to do this but I think the situation has improved because we have organised the shop differently,” said the owner of a inner city shop. She says that she has developed a second sense which helps her to identify trouble. Two years ago she became uneasy about a law student browsing between the shelves. Then she spotted him slipping a new book between two large volumes he was holding. When Confronted, he ran from the shop leaving behind a large hollowedout book belonging to the University of Canterbury and a full case of books he had stolen earlier from other city shops. In the Magistrate’s Court, counsel frequently say that their clients accused of shoplifting took the goods on the “spur of the moment.” Many retailers disagree. “Most of them have already decided to shoplift before they come into the store,” said Mr Valentine. A shop owner added that special days like Mother’s

Day and Father’s Day always prompt a bout of shoplifting.

“There is an extraordinary attitude that things are fair game if they haven’t got the money.”

I n court, many defendants say they are under emotional stress from broken marriages, menstruation or menopause. Yet there are those who cannot explain why they stole. One elderly woman took pork chops valued at $2.46. Her lawyer said that she had worked up until last year, paid off a high mortgage and felt it was a rather silly end to an unblemished record.

Mr K. W. Frampton S.M. discharged her under section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act as she had gone 68 years without ever having been in trouble.-

There are many like her who are also discharged because of the circumstances that drove the accused to commit the offence. These convictions are not recorded on police files.

However, the police would like to see some recording system introduced so that past shoplifting defendants can be recognised if they steal again. One policeman said that he know of a woman had been convicted of shoplifting four times. The accused often have charges against them dismissed. “If there is any doubt, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of that, the Magistrate said. Convicted shoplifters are either discharged, fined, or given a suspended sentence and ordered to return the stolen property. The names of many offenders are suppressed, usually, because they have schoolage children or a sick relative, Magistrates appear more willing to suppress the names of women defendants than males. But it is usually the amateurs who are caught. The full-timers, who deftly slip stolen items into hollow boxes wrapped in Christmass paper and use other shoplifting tools, are much harder to pick up.

And while retailers look forward to high turnovers next month, they are also well aware that Christmas combined „ with school holidays is also the season for the light-fingered.