at stores that have a “do not interfere with shoplifters” policy, are people able to just walk in, take whatever they want, and leave without paying; or are there repercussions at some point?
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Security at major chain stores has drastically changed in the past decade. There are cameras everywhere, and footage doesn’t get deleted. It all gets uploaded and processed automatically with visual recognition software. Anomalies get flagged for human review, and they get linked to other incidents through facial recognition, license plate OCR, phone IMEI and MAC tracking, etc. to other videos of other visits, even at different stores, since they all use the same few security companies, and the industry cooperates on this stuff.
There’s no anonymity anymore. They don’t have to stop shoplifters at the door. They just bundle all the evidence and send it to the police. The next time the shoplifter has an encounter with law enforcement, they get picked up. And if the shoplifter has stolen multiple times or from multiple stores, it adds up and can cross into felony territory.
In the past, prosecutors would usually need to get store staff to testify, which was hard–retail has a lot of turnover and courts are slow. Now they don’t need to. Putting video clips of repeated shoplifting in front of a jury is practically an automatic guilty verdict. So shoplifting charges are getting pled out more frequently, with plea agreements requiring the defendant to pay full restitution for the stores, with interest.
That’s why chain stores don’t try to stop shoplifters at the door anymore. It’s cheaper not to. They don’t have to put staff at risk (i.e. risk an altercation/lawsuit) , they don’t have to train staff in intervention (i.e. save money) and they are very likely to collect payment for the stolen goods from the shoplifter, even if it takes a year or two.
The downside of nonconfrontation is that, despite being far more effective and cheaper, it appears to be ineffective and lawless. Bystanders and staff don’t see the shoplifter getting arrested many months later.
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