[rant]Grocery store theft policy[/rant]

Should I call the store corporate ops out on their theft prevention policy?

  • Nah, let it go.

    Votes: 14 46.7%

  • Oh hell yeah.

    Votes: 9 30.0%

  • Mmm, you're reading too much in to this.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Damn. Tough question.

    Votes: 2 6.7%

  • Buy cole slaw before it becomes too expensive.

    Votes: 5 16.7%

  • Don't sweat it. Hott messes become needy under stress. Just sayin' yo. Play it.

    Votes: 1 3.3%
  • Total voters
    30
Sac Arrow

Sac Arrow

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Okay so there I was right...

...it was a dark and coolish morning as the sun rose over the Sierras, bringing blissful rays of sunshine through the glass window as I sat at the high table in the cafe in the corner of the grocery store next to my gym. As I do many mornings. My favorite checkout girl (we will call her Nancy, but Nancy is not her real name) says hi to me, and we shoot the bull over various home remodels and things going on. You see, Nancy is not young and nubile, but rather she is looking at retirement from the store on the horizon. Don't get me wrong, I'd still hit it in a heartbeat.

The store? A mostly west coast supermarket chain, a couple steps up from Safeway. It's considered one of the better chains. They have pretty good meat and produce. They are too expensive to buy canned stuff and dry goods on a daily basis, given the proximity of the welfare warehouse store a couple blocks away.

But that's not what I am here to talk about. Flash back a couple months ago. Tweaker crackhead is tweaking in the store, Nancy asks him to leave, he does not comply. There is no store security. None. Zippo. Nada. I threw his azz out. Fast forward to this morning.

1. Street looking dude makes a beeline for the door carrying a drink and a sandwich. I knew he was making a grab and run. I watch him leave. I do not play enforcer unless I see a safety issue. Nancy asked the cafe if the guy paid for the stuff. Nada. We talked about him and people like him.

2. Not two minutes later, a tweaker girl in a tattered denim skirt comes in with her arm over her head, and walks about the store for several minutes. She returns to the front, grabs a shopping cart, and proceeds to load up with pretty much most of the store staff watching. Nancy informs me that by corporate policy, they aren't even allowed to confront offenders. They are simply asked to note what is being stolen and then phone loss prevention at corporate and that is pretty much the end of it. Nancy was incredibly ****ed over the whole thing. Nancy said the whole store was ****ed over the whole thing. Nancy said for me not to tell anyone about the store's policy or Nancy would be fired. I think I can paraphrase in vaguities and honor the intent of her request. Tweaker ho left with about roughly five hundred dollars in merchandise.

This is bad on a lot of levels. Yes, I get it, store employees are clerks and stockers, not combat soldiers or cops. But they aren't even allowed to CALL the cops (not that they would show up anyway for petty theft.) It just occurred to me that this could escalate in to a personal safety issue over time. This tweaker ho did what she did because she knew she could and she knew she wouldn't get called on it. Okay, theft is one thing, your store, your policy, whatever, if I don't like the price escalation to factor this in I'll go somewhere else (I only buy meat and coffee from them anyway.) What about when it turns violent? Thugs think it's okay to perform armed robberies on customers because they know they can get away with it?

This is insanity. They can employ an armed guard for a fraction of the cost of their losses. I have mixed feelings about where to go from here. A part of me wants to write a letter to corporate and let them know how I feel. Another part of me wants to cc it to the local newspaper and TV stations.

I dunno, what think thee.
 
Judging from your geographic references, I’d say the store is wholly in compliance with state “sanctuary” policies. I’d comply with your friend’s wishes and keep mum. Can’t fix stupid, especially on that massive scale involved here.
 
So the store employee's are not allowed to call law enforcement after seeing someone shoplift? Wonder what their rationale behind that is?

I wouldn't get involved as a citizen, because there's always the chance that if you take action into your own hands, these individuals could flare up litigation for false imprisonment. Now the store employees by law are able to confront the offenders, as the law allows that, but they just have to have probable cause (which is sounds like they do) and be reasonable about it.

But I can definitely see your point. As frustrating as it is, I wouldn't get involved.
 
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Oh let me be clear on this. I have no intention on getting physically involved with theft prevention. It's not my job. If corporate supermarket wants it this way so be it, I have no intention of getting involved. Physically. Regarding my first citation of throwing the crackhead out of the store, I felt that an employee was at risk and you know what? I can't wake up with myself in the morning not having dealt with it.
 
The people spoke........ complicit by default.
 
Damn right I would write a letter, not only is it wrong, but you are paying higher prices by the store allowing people to steal at will...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF is wrong with this mentality, reward the POS's and in turn punish the honest with higher prices... BS
Society is going down the sh$tter and no one is willing to try and stop it.
You are correct in not getting involved, the outcome would completely be against you in the end.
 
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1RTK1 said:
Damn right I would write a letter, not only is it wrong, but you are paying higher prices by the store allowing people to steal at will...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF is wrong with this mentality, reward the POS's and in turn punish the honest with higher prices... BS
Click to expand...

That is what I am thinking exactly.
 
Nope, the store doesn't want employees to get involved, but they will sure raise prices.
 
Zeldman said:
Nope, the store doesn't want employees to get involved, but they will sure raise prices.
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How about, just give them some judgement? If it is a situation they can deal with, let them deal with it. Otherwise, let better judgement prevail. That is my key beef here.
 
Talked to a local that worked at a hardware chain that has this exact policy. They told me the theft dollars they incur each year from internal and external theft. The money they lose every year could cover plenty of security.
Not only that but the low lifes would more than likely quit visiting that store once the word is out that you will go to jail.
 
Yup...they cannot stop them. Does not matter if it is employees, unarmed guards or armed guards...unless you are a sworn peace officer you cannot initiate physical contact or physically detain someone in this day and age without opening up liability...only sternly ask for their compliance which they are under zero obligation to do.

It is cheaper to deal with the loss vs the lawsuits...sad as that is.

Problem is crooks now know this and they also know it is not worth the Police's time to deal with petty theft should the cops get called...so they can just walk out with virtually zero consequences.

I personally think they should be able to taze their nads on the way out....yeah, an innocent grandma may get dropped once in a while but some collateral damage is to be expected.
 
Publicly held company? Get word out to one of their big stockholders ? Sounds like someone somewhere in the chain is not fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility.
 
Shawn said:
Yup...they cannot stop them. Does not matter if it is employees, unarmed guards or armed guards...unless you are a sworn peace officer you cannot initiate physical contact or physically detain someone in this day and age without opening up liability...only sternly ask for their compliance which they are under zero obligation to do.

It is cheaper to deal with the loss vs the lawsuits...sad as that is.

Problem is crooks now know this and they also know it is not worth the Police's time to deal with petty theft should the cops get called...so they can just walk out with virtually zero consequences.

I personally think they should be able to taze their nads on the way out....yeah, an innocent grandma may get dropped once in a while but some collateral damage is to be expected.
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The policy at my store is once they leave the last pay station without paying they will be detained. Never had a lawsuit yet or police questioning our tactics, have had a few of tussles over the years too.
I've had a couple of the local rif raf arrested after the fact with video.
 
There is a large chain grocery store next to my office that we occasionally visit for lunch. It's the only grocery I've seen that has either security or off duty cops blocking the entrance 24/7 with the drug counter and most checkout lanes completely inclosed with bullet proof glass.

But this grocery store is also located, along with my office, in an extremely dangerous part of town. As in the likelyhood of you getting robbed or worse is better then 50%. We only go in groups.
 
Sac Arrow said:
The store? A mostly west coast supermarket chain, a couple steps up from Safeway.
Click to expand...
At least Safeway has hired security. They are always at the door. There are occasional uniformed police. The shopping environment has improved greatly since they showed up.
 
You guys don't get it. That's just the cost of doing business. Way cheaper to write off the losses than risk some gung-ho security guard possibly shooting or injuring the shoplifters. How many times (especially in Commifornia) have we heard of the bad guys suing the very people they were stealing from and winning the lottery all because they suffered a bullet wound or a concussion from an over zealous security guard. And I'd bet those stores that do have security guards have a hands-off and no chase policy. They're only there as a deterrent, not to enforce the law. Sad to say society has gotten to this point. :(
 
azblackbird said:
You guys don't get it. That's just the cost of doing business. Way cheaper to write off the losses than risk some gung-ho security guard possibly shooting or injuring the shoplifters. How many times (especially in Commifornia) have we heard of the bad guys suing the very people they were stealing from and winning the lottery all because they suffered a bullet wound or a concussion from an over zealous security guard. And I'd bet those stores that do have security guards have a hands-off and no chase policy. They're only there as a deterrent, not to enforce the law. Sad to say society has gotten to this point. :(
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It would be nice if businesses would just close their doors in places like you describe. Let them starve.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
It would be nice if businesses would just close their doors in places like you describe. Let them starve.
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They do, eventually. Seen it happen to large shopping centers, and malls, in or near bad neighborhoods. All over the country.
 
eh, I don't worry about things like that. There are very few things in the world that are right and this is just one of them. As for the argument that the rest of us pay more because of it...nah. There were a lot of things I believed as a child and was disappointed to learn the truth when I growed up. No one pays more for insurance because of insurance fraud. No one pays more at the store because of theft. And cute girls don't sit home on Friday nights because no one asked them out.
 
It’s the way of the world.
 
Some Other countries I have visited don’t seem to be having the problems we are experiencing, or at least not to our degree.
 
Shawn said:
Yup...they cannot stop them. Does not matter if it is employees, unarmed guards or armed guards...unless you are a sworn peace officer you cannot initiate physical contact or physically detain someone in this day and age without opening up liability...only sternly ask for their compliance which they are under zero obligation to do.

It is cheaper to deal with the loss vs the lawsuits...sad as that is.

Problem is crooks now know this and they also know it is not worth the Police's time to deal with petty theft should the cops get called...so they can just walk out with virtually zero consequences.

I personally think they should be able to taze their nads on the way out....yeah, an innocent grandma may get dropped once in a while but some collateral damage is to be expected.
Click to expand...
No body, no crime. Capiche?
 
As others have stated, it's cheaper to take the loss than to fight. About twelve years ago Wal-Mart changed from a zero-tolerance policy to only prosecuting if over $25 is stolen and the thief is between 18-64 years old (revised to 16-64 two years ago).

"The change in policy will allow Wal-Mart to concentrate on theft by professional shoplifters and its own employees. They said those two groups steal the bulk of merchandise from the chain. “If I have somebody being paid $12 an hour processing a $5 theft, I have just lost money,” J. P. Suarez, who is in charge of asset protection at Wal-Mart, told the paper. “I have also lost the time to catch somebody stealing $100 or an organized group stealing $3,000.”"
 
Luigi said:
Close 3/4 of the law schools....turn them into medical schools:)
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"We need to prescribe you medication for your high blood pressure and get you on the regular rotation for the cardiologist schedule. High blood pressure is defined as anything above 2/1 nowadays."
 
I don't know about grocery stores, but in retail they say more walks out the back door than the front door. :(
 
Sac Arrow said:
You see, Nancy is not young and nubile, but rather she is looking at retirement from the store on the horizon. Don't get me wrong, I'd still hit it in a heartbeat.
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You're old. Not "getting old". Already old. :p

;)
 
wayne said:
I don't know about grocery stores, but in retail they say more walks out the back door than the front door. :(
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There's a small town in Texas, not too far from College Station, called Hearne. When Wal-Mart came to town, of course a lot of small local businesses were closed. Then the story comes out that Wal-Mart was closing up and leaving town. There were headlines talking about the town that Wal-Mart killed twice... once when they forced the mom-and-pop shops out of business, then again when they closed up leaving everyone high and dry.

Then the real story came out. This store had some of the highest theft rates of any Wal-Mart in the country. The employees were robbing them blind. They could not make a profit at this store.
 
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wayne said:
I don't know about grocery stores, but in retail they say more walks out the back door than the front door. :(
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Lowflynjack said:
There's a small town in Texas, not too far from College Station, called Hearne. When Wal-Mart came to town, of course a lot of small local businesses were closed. Then the story comes out that they were closing up and leaving town. There were headlines talking about the town that Wal-Mart killed twice... once when they forced the mom-and-pop shops out of business, then again when they closed up leaving everyone high and dry.

Then the real story came out. This store had some of the highest theft rates of any Wal-Mart in the country. The employees were robbing them blind. They could not make a profit at this store.
Click to expand...

I think that is generally right, particularly at the big box stores like Wally World. I doubt that is happening significantly at grocery store in my original post. Aside from the high school kids bagging the groceries, almost all of the employees have been there several years and turnover is low.

mscard88 said:
One those who subscribe to the "go ugly early" mantra? ;)
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Let's just say that if the life boat is full, I have no problem clinging to the driftwood...
 
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