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Anonymous #1
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Did i get caught stealing?
#21901247 - 07/05/15 02:15 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Im posting this in anonomyous because there is obviously a lot of hate toward theives on here, but i have a problem... I cant stop stealing. I hate myself for it but anyway..
at target they had the witcher 3 out with a plastic casing over it, just sitting out to grab. I got three, took em in the bathroom, popped off the casing, and put them in my lower big pocket, they were noticable through my pocket.
A employee walks up and ask me if im 18 as im leaving the bathroom. I keep walking and pick up my speed, he says "hello, im talking to you" pretty loud. I see a security officer toward the exit doors, im ready to take off if he starts my way. But i walked right out the doors and he didnt stop me. No one followed me out, the employee didnt persue me through the store after i ignored him.
Was it coincidence the security gaurd was at the front of the store? And why did the employee ask my age?
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Anonymous #2
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Maybe he asked your age so he could detain you and have the officer search you if you were 18
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Anonymous #3
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Most stores aren't allowed to physically detain you. When I was a manager I was allowed to confront someone I saw stealing, but if they decided to just walk out, there wasn't anything I could do about it. Most people are afraid when they get caught though so they tend to cooperate with me questioning them, despite the fact that they're free to just walk out the door. It's actually kinda like the moment Chris Hansen walks out.
Did they know you stole? Definitely, and they probably made a police report on it (not that anything is likely to come of it). Although I'd suggest not going back to that store. Employees look for known thieves and if one comes in the store and is recognized, the cops can be called, and if they made the police report, you can then be arrested. Cops aren't going to go out of their way for shoplifters but they have no problem arresting you when you make it easy for them.
Edited by Anonymous (07/05/15 02:48 PM)
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Anonymous #1
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Quote:
Anonymous #3 said: Most stores aren't allowed to physically detain you. When I was a manager I was allowed to confront someone I saw stealing, but if they decided to just walk out, there wasn't anything I could do about it. Most people are afraid when they get caught though so they tend to cooperate with me questioning them, despite the fact that they're free to just walk out the door. It's actually kinda like the moment Chris Hansen walks out.
Did they know you stole? Definitely, and they probably made a police report on it (not that anything is likely to come of it). Although I'd suggest not going back to that store. Employees look for known thieves and if one comes in the store and is recognized, the cops can be called, and if they made the police report, you can then be arrested. Cops aren't going to go out of their way for shoplifters but they have no problem arresting you when you make it easy for them.
Gotcha, dont go back.
Honestly i was never planning on going back there anyway 
I had no idea stores couldnt physically detain you. I always thought if they had constant observation of you from the act of putting the object in your pocket to walking past the registers they could, thats why i always make a stop in the restroom, even if i dont need to unpack the item im stealing.
Which leads me to my next question, how can a police report be filed if i went into the bathroom? They have no proof i didnt ditch the games in there instead of actually walking out with them.
Edited by Anonymous (07/05/15 03:08 PM)
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Anonymous #3
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It's generally store policy we can't physically stop you from leaving, it's a huge liability. What if the thief is injured in the scuffle or the employee? Either way that's big bucks the store is gonna have to pay out. Then you have to factor in the wanna be hero types who are going to take physical altercation to a whole new level, because managers and shit generally take it personally when you try to steal something under their watch, even though it doesn't hurt them in the slightest. We're advised to not even confront someone unless we keep visual contact and watch you try to steal it. If you falsely accuse someone of stealing it generally gets pretty heated and just all around looks bad on the store and the employees.
You can file a police report for just about anything. Whether you're guilty or not is what court is for. The managers/store is generally given the benefit of the doubt in these matters. Meaning the cops trust that if they went through the trouble of making the report (it's more than just calling the cops and giving a statement, there's also copies of security footage made and scrutinized to support the claim) then it's usually for good reason. We also deal with this shit on a daily basis, we know the tricks and we're not above digging in the restroom trashcans or looking under the plunger to find the opened packaging and "proof" that something was taken without being paid for.
Employees at retail stores develop a sixth sense for someone who is trying to steal. We know what you're about to do before you even do it, so generally we put ourselves in a position to watch you do it. When you for instance pick up 3 copies of a game and go to the bathroom, we were watching you before you even picked them up in the first place. When you come out without them, we know what happened. We'll even tag team you to make it harder for you to determine if we're watching or not. One person doesn't need to keep visual contact, it can be 2 or more switching off, as long as you're watched 100% of the time.
I don't work retail anymore but yes we kinda do take ourselves way too serious, but we're told to. The job training we do constantly talks about how badly one theft hurts the store (which I don't agree with but whatever). We tend to take it personally because it's like you're insulting our intelligence when you try and do it on our watch. I found it fun to stop thieves. They all think they're so damn slick and smart, I always thought it was hilarious.
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Anonymous #1
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Quote:
Anonymous #3 said: It's generally store policy we can't physically stop you from leaving, it's a huge liability. What if the thief is injured in the scuffle or the employee? Either way that's big bucks the store is gonna have to pay out. Then you have to factor in the wanna be hero types who are going to take physical altercation to a whole new level, because managers and shit generally take it personally when you try to steal something under their watch, even though it doesn't hurt them in the slightest. We're advised to not even confront someone unless we keep visual contact and watch you try to steal it. If you falsely accuse someone of stealing it generally gets pretty heated and just all around looks bad on the store and the employees.
You can file a police report for just about anything. Whether you're guilty or not is what court is for. The managers/store is generally given the benefit of the doubt in these matters. Meaning the cops trust that if they went through the trouble of making the report (it's more than just calling the cops and giving a statement, there's also copies of security footage made and scrutinized to support the claim) then it's usually for good reason. We also deal with this shit on a daily basis, we know the tricks and we're not above digging in the restroom trashcans or looking under the plunger to find the opened packaging and "proof" that something was taken without being paid for.
Employees at retail stores develop a sixth sense for someone who is trying to steal. We know what you're about to do before you even do it, so generally we put ourselves in a position to watch you do it. When you for instance pick up 3 copies of a game and go to the bathroom, we were watching you before you even picked them up in the first place. When you come out without them, we know what happened. We'll even tag team you to make it harder for you to determine if we're watching or not. One person doesn't need to keep visual contact, it can be 2 or more switching off, as long as you're watched 100% of the time.
I don't work retail anymore but yes we kinda do take ourselves way too serious, but we're told to. The job training we do constantly talks about how badly one theft hurts the store (which I don't agree with but whatever). We tend to take it personally because it's like you're insulting our intelligence when you try and do it on our watch. I found it fun to stop thieves. They all think they're so damn slick and smart, I always thought it was hilarious.
Yeah, i am pretty slick though xD. Obviously not in this instance. I hit the same walmart like 100 times and was never caught, i quit stealing from it but i still go in there to this day and havent been arrested yet, and i havent stolen from there in 6 months.
I doubt i will ever steal from a target again. I hit this one once before. I had the games in my buggy fake shopping for a good 20 minutes, before i went to the blind spot and put the games in my pocket, walked around for 5 more minutes and went in the bathroom. Im thinking the shorts i wore gave me away, pockets were too small.
It probably helps that i dont look like a thief, im a white dude who .always wears a nice collar shirt and glasses to steal, ive done it so many times i dont act sketchy.
So what kind of behavior is it you look out for? Im guessing taking three copies of the same game is pretty sketchy in its self.
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Anonymous #3
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It's just your body language, it's not something I can pinpoint. It's not something they are aware of either.. I can tell when someone is coming into the store to steal from the moment they step in the door. Sure I was wrong a couple of times, but over 90% of the time I was right. I've also never been surprised when someone stole something.
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Anonymous #2
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So you're telling me all I have to do is walk into Kroger, fill a shopping cart with cases of beer, look up, look straight, and walk straight out the door?
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Anonymous #3
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Well there is a limit to what you can "get away with". If you steal enough, then the cops will actively come after you rather than just brush it off as another petty shoplifter. If someone stole enough and ran out the door with it, we'd chase them outside to get a license plate and direction of travel and immediately relay that information to the police. This has resulted in cops stopping them and arresting them.
Then there's the basket issue to contend with. We're not allowed to physically restrain you, but I could see us getting away with grabbing onto the shopping cart and not letting it leave the store. At that point we're not stopping you, we're only preventing the basket from leaving.
Lastly, even though it's generally against store policy to stop someone, not everyone plays by the rules. It may get them written up, disciplined or fired, but if you steal enough it may put them in a position where they feel like they are obligated to prevent you from leaving.
But yeah you can get away with just grabbing something and walking out the door most of the time. I've had more than one person come in grab a case of beer and walk out the door with it. But keep in mind a police report will likely be filed, and it may or may not result in you being arrested.
Edited by Anonymous (07/05/15 05:47 PM)
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Anonymous #2
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So probably just a 12 pack
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Anonymous #4
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Lol I love how some people read through this and saw it as a green light to steal.
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Anonymous #5
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Depending on what state you live in you can shoot the thief in the head if you say you felt threatened and get away with it. Hell in my state the cops killed a black kid for picking up a bb gun in a Walmart and no charges were even filed. Stealing is wrong, but killing someone because you're scared is just insane, stopthe insanity!
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Anonymous #6
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Kleptomania
Get help before you get a criminal record.
The problem is the thieving in the thief, not the thief himself.
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Anonymous #1
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Quote:
Anonymous #2 said: So you're telling me all I have to do is walk into Kroger, fill a shopping cart with cases of beer, look up, look straight, and walk straight out the door?
I did exactly this at food depot, but with TWO thirty packs
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Anonymous #7
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Quote:
Anonymous #3 said: Most stores aren't allowed to physically detain you.
All people are not allowed to steal either. We know how that goes...
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