Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ImDpth Shoplifting "We're not going to stop shoplifting until we convince people dha shoplifting is stealing, and convince the courtsg to impose stiff fin es." By Scott Kearus salsmn,wt h neto Gemecock st.en Writerofcvetnthsaeohsow "Columbia area merchants caepieteefsalb lose more than:3 4 million a yeargulyoshpitn.Tefrt to shoplifters," according to ofnei uihbeb ieo James M. Hathcell, executive ntmr hn$0'o m vice president of the South piomn o o oeta i Carolina Merchants Association,. otso oh "Tougher shoplifting laws and Ai7 uigb h ot increased store security are -oiaAtreGerlgvs having little effect in curbing themecatwhsesopiin thefts," Hatchell added.thrihtome naesad Shoplifting is defined under hl h fedrutlh a e South Carolina law as, "Anypoieastnc.Aorngo person who shall willfully take terln,tevleo h r possession of any goods, wares ortiesnoaetrnnfctrn merchandise offeed forisalebyshoplifting."vr ifThe value exceeds $50 the theft is con sidered grand larceny, a felony. Columbia City Police arrested 249 persons for shoplifting in 1973, but most of them were not charged with shoplifting because the charges were dropped. Statistics for Richland County are not available, but according to Capt. J.H. Laverne of the Richland County Sheriff's Department, shoplifting is a serious problem. National figures indicate that shoplifting is a female crime, and Chuck Dowdy of J.C. Penney on Main Street in Columbia agrees. According to Dowdy, the loss of merchandise in his women's department exceeds the losses in any other department. Dowdy estimates that 70 per cent of the shoplifters in his store are women. "Our biggest problem area is in ladies garments, ready to-wear clothes and costume jewelry. I think they steal as many rings as we sell," Dowdy said. According to Jack .Shirey of Tapps, his problem is similar to that of Penney's. Shirey, a security officer, said that most of the shoplifting in his Main Street store is committed by women. Shirey said, "A lot of the shoplifters we catch are good customers. Some of them have charge accounts with us and can afford to pay for the items they try to steal. The heaviest shoplifted area in our store is sports wear and jewelry. And the items they usually shoplift are inexpensive." One problem surrounding shoplifting in the Columbia area is prosecuting the thief once he is arrested. Jim Hatchell blames this on the courts. "Its' not unusual for a well-to-do person to be caught shoplifting, and the courts -will attempt to have the merchant dismiss the charges against them," Hatchell said. Most merchants drop the charge of shoplifting to a lesser charge of petty larceny to avoid numerous appearances in court. Jack Shirey said it usually takes four or more appearances in court to prosecute for shoplifting, but he disagrees with Hatchell. "A lot of stores can't afford to close up shop to atterdthe trials, but it's a fair system. I think our courts are as good as they could be," Shirey said. Capt. Laverne said that a lot of merchants are afraid of law suits for defamation of characer or false arrest counter suits. Ac cording to Laverne, most of the shoplifters in Richland county are teen-agers, and some of them are the children of very prominent people. Laverne trys to handle his shoplifters, rather than send them through the courts. "If it is a small item we usually handle it. If it's worth $50 or over we dispose of it in the lower magistrate court," Laverne said. One store that -always prosecutes for shopliftings is Pants Pavillion on Main Street. According to Assistant Manager Jim Hudson, his store has prosecuted 15 shoplifters over the past three years. Hudson, who has been on the witness stand mn 12 ofthe cases, has no complaints with the courts. "The courts have been fine. You just have to sit through the sessions in order to fulfill the prosecution. We've been inconvenienced by lawyers postpoining the trial, but they are only doing their job," Hudson said. "Our only gripe is .that larger stores don't prosecute shoplif ters," he added. J. C. Penney's prosecutes and thus they prefer a manger to make the arrest. According to Dowdy, his sales clerks usually call him when they see someone shoplifting, so he then can make the detention until the police arrive. "This way we don't in volve our clerks in sitting on the witness stand." Dowdy said. Shoplifting techniques vary from person to person, adding to the difficulty in making arrests, However, most merchants agree that gangs of shoplifters are usually easy to spot. One gang of shoplifters, four women, was recently caught in the Columbia area. They took orders for mer chandise to be stolen. Their prospective clients could give their measurements to the gang and have any style, in perfect fit, of clothing theywanted stolen. Customers of these gangs could usually get the merchanise they 'wanted in a couple of days. Shoplifters who work in gangs also use signals to warn each other of approaching dangers. They distract the store personnel and try to confuse them by asking a lot of question while their partners steal the goods. Shoplifters also use various shoplifting tools. Large rain coats, shopping bags and false bottomed boxes are among the most commonly used. One woman arrested for shoplifting a color televisions set was caught when a clerk .noticed her peculiar walk and called the store security offic'er. The woman arrested was wearing a long dress and she was carrying the small T.V. set with her knees. Jack Shirey said that the most popular tool he's seen is a large leather pocket book. The thief holds it at counter level and dumps items into it. "Although we have a problem with the large pocket books, most of our shoplifters prefer to wear their stolen goods out of the store--two or threeat a time" Shirey added. Many merchants are com batting shoplifting with simple changes in their operating techniques. Some discourage garment thefts by limiting the number of at'icles allowed in their dressing rooms. It is an inconvenienct to the honest customer, but an effective means of controlling the shoplifter. Customers are given niumbers which correspond to the number of items taken into the room and are checked when they exit to make sure that they return the number indicated. According to Jim Hudson, almost all of his shoplifting is done in the dressin room. "If we think someone is trying to shoplift, we wait until they leave the dressing room and then check it to make sure they haven't left it in the room," said Hudson. "If they haven't, we lock the front door and call the police." Hudson- said his store prosecutes every shoplifter.they catch. "We think it's a good policy; people get the word through the grapevine that we prosecute and they don't do it in our store for fear of arrest," Hudson added. Electronic devices and in creased security guards are also being used by many of the downtown merchants. One store uses electrical scanners which relay pictures to a security room. Virtually every area of the store is covered by the scanners and -security guards are able to detect any shoplifting that occurs. Another large department . store in Columbia has two security guards on each floor, usually a man and woman team. Their only job is to prevent shoplifting and make arrests of people seen shoplifting. One store owner, who has been in business for 27 years, said he has never had a problem with shoplifters. His store is arranged to allow him maximum sur veillance of his merchandise, and he keeps all o( his small items in locked display cases. "I also wear heel plates on my shoes so the customerfwillknow that I am following them around the store. I probably lose business by doing it, but I don't have a shoplifting problem that I knowof," he said. King Ridout of Ridout Bostrum has eliminated his shoplifting problems by controlling the "people flow" and restricting exits. King caters to young professionals in his store and he said that most of the shoplifters that come in are pretty obvious. King calls ' shoplifters "tirekickers" and claims that he can spot them the minute they walk in. In his store at Dutch Square he uses telephoto scan ners and floor walkers. Ac cording to King, "Preventing shoplifting is just a matter of how you place your personnel and display your merchandise. You have to keep your customers in view at all times. Shirey of Tapps also instructs his personnel on how to prevent shoplifting. "One out of four hours in our training session is devoted to shoplifting," he said. "We instruct our personnel on how to spot shoplifting, what to look for and what to do when they see the crime being committed," he added." The South Carolina Merchants Association provides materials on shoplifting -to merchants. Manuals on shoplifting techniques, posters and films are available to its members. Richland County Sheriff's Department sponsors a program called "Project 95".Two officers are assigned to the project and they lecture in the schools to discourage shoplifting by teenagers. But Jim Hatchell doesn't think this is going to solve the shoplifting problem. "We're not going to stop shoplifting until we convince people that shoplifting is stealing,, and convince the courts to impose stiff fines," he said.