WILES OF SHOP-LIFTERS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 117, 15 May 1912, Page 6

WILES OF SHOP-LIFTERS.

AUDACIOUS WOMEN THIEVES

THE EVIL NOT INCREASING

*As was indioated during a recent police prosecution, a good deal of shop-lifting.gqes on in Auckland (says the Herald). :Inquiry among a number of business people shows that the evil is,regarded as inseparable from carrying on business' in a If.rge city. It was stated by one business man that for some reason or other less shoplifting goes on now than was the case a' shor;fc time .ago, and this testimony was corroborated by others. ; The manager of a large drapery establishments in the city assured a re-, porter that his firm's plan of trusting the public answered well as a general rule. The ordinary run of customer may safely be .assumed to be honest, w;hile -a little ;priicti.ce soo<ii en-. ables ; on^/'tb. piqk'the type : requiring special watching.': At satle time there is more opportunity for petty thieving, and,undoubtedly more cases of it; occur, but tfo; increase in the number of' floor walkersv .watching that all customers are being attended to, en-i ables a fairly close' survey of the stock to be maintained. . No special precautions are -taken, however, and no one of those approached seemed to think,, that his "confidence in the honesty .gf the/general public was extensively^ abused. ' At the same*, time, in a reminiscent mood experienced business man can recall cases, some astounding because of their audacity, some surprising by, reason, of their! apparent lack, of motive. -/ > r

Of the latter kind, an•;. instance given was concerning -, a, woman of good family,; and". in, a position' to satisfy every reasonable who took considerable risk .for the sake of a .''comparatively insignificant remnant of cloth. THis she picked rip off the counter and wrapped, -up in .papery getting away safely from the counter; attendant, only io be stopped by the manager, who happened to be in the, vicinity.- No prosecution followed in that ease» / ' ■. Another inexplicable and rather heartle^ {phase of the matter is the way some- mothers utilise childi*en in arms aids in the committal of a theft. :, Cases; have been "known of women 'entering.'a,, shop carrying; a child, placing it on the1 counter while making: a trifling purchase, and; on, leaving, picking, up with the child' some small article which had been lying about. ":'■■.;.''-..:_ ■-.■■, i ' , Some of the eases/detected are almost amusingly' audacious. In a large boot and shoe shop in the* city a woman made a particularly '. .brazen attempt to obtain a couple of; pairs of: shoes, a,t an extra special reduction. Picking two pairs iij»; f rom the, stock displayed,. oiitside' the window, she wrapped th'ein!;loosely in a handkerchief, randy.' walking into the, shop.; coolly pi'bbeeded to b.uyi two. pairs of laces : for- i>hem'.:' i The manager, in .passing, noted them. ; ' -We\ got back' ithel'slides^' he "said'; "but>—with a' tinge of regret in his- voice—"we lost the sale of the laces." " . , An equally audacious case was observed by the owner of a fancy goods shop in Karangahape'! Road. Ih this instance the culprit—again a woman —renftoved a box of small brooches and a jewelled comb from the counter, departing unobserved. Had she not distributed ; a number: .of' the brooches among some children, who' readily admitted where they had come from, she might never, have been connected with the loss of the articles. A little later on, however, sh^e returned to the- shop, wearing in her hair the identical bomb which had disappeared.' '• / # Summed-up, the testimony of business people goes to show1 that the shbp-lifting evil is not increasing to any extent. :■ It does exist, and is considered likely to continue in existence, bat the action of some people in prosecuting those they catch is ; considered to have a salutary effect. Of the thefts which take place inside shops, the delinquents seem generally to be women, while men appear more prone to make a casual selection from the wares displayed outside. POSITION IN CHRISTCHURCH. It was recently stated that a good deal of shoplifting went on in Auckland, but that the testimony of business people went to show that it was not increasing to any extent. -A Christchurch Press representative saw the managers of a number J of the large drapery establishments in regard to the position there. The manager of one large shop said: "We have had in the past a siderable amount of shoplifting, and dtiring the last? 12 months we have taken special steps to prevent it. A number of the professional shopliftert> are well; known to us, and to our staff, and:;are.carefully watched from .the moment £hey enter the^premi^es till th-ey ; leavei ■ I .thiri^ the amount of shoplifting which usedi to exist was due to the bffenders being treated too lenientily, and we now have ail inflexible rule that in every case in future proceedings must follow. "We ourselves don't display any .goods out,side, because we think it a bad system, and one conducive to theft. Shoplifting, as far as we are concerned, is almost entirely confined to women, and very little is done by men." "I do not think shoplifting is on the increase with us," said another manager. "Our experience is that there iis an outbreak at sale times and at ! Christmas, and we have instituted a

good number of proceedings durmg; the last six months, with a view tb> decreasing the practice. The worsfo . of it is that the people caught are usually in a position to pay for the goods. I have instructions to prosecute in-every'• case-that comes under ; my notice." ' The - manager of another largel drapery: establishment: said that they had not had a single case of shoplifting for over two years, whicE seems to prove pretty conclusivelythat it must be on the decrease here. Their place, he said, was arranged insuch a way that the assistant ih every case faced tlie customer. anoT therefore tie chances of pilfering; were lessened.