Soft-on-crime policies and liberal prosecutors are fueling a nationwide scourge of retail theft that is closing businesses and, in some cases, costing lives, congressional lawmakers heard Tuesday.
Former prosecutors told lawmakers that organized criminals understand that many jurisdictions have downgraded shoplifting and theft to less-serious offenses in recent years — and that has given the crooks the green light.
“The criminals are winning in our society right now,” Rep. Russell Fry, South Carolina Republican, said after hearing testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. “We want to play cute with law enforcement, but people are suffering, businesses are suffering [and] families are suffering.”
Former federal prosecutor John Milhiser told the panel that prosecutions of shoplifters are falling through the cracks in part because of a lack of resources and staff. In other cases, he said, prosecutions are down because liberal district attorneys are playing politics.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach testified that bail reform laws have made it easier for thieves to be released at little or no cost even though sophisticated syndicates, “boosters” and other organized groups are looting stores.
The trend toward a softer approach to offenders is inviting more risk into everyday shopping trips for customers and for store employees such as Blake Mohs.
Lawmakers heard from Lorie Mohs, who testified that her son was fatally shot in April while working as a loss prevention officer for a Home Depot in Pleasanton, California. Blake Mohs, an Eagle Scout and a law enforcement cadet, was 26.
Ms. Mohs told The Washington Times after the congressional hearing that her son regularly encountered violent interactions while he worked to prevent theft on the job.
“It wasn’t his first [time facing a] gun, nor his first weapon. He had seen knives. He had seen guns. He had seen items in the store being used to hurt him,” Ms. Mohs said. She directed most of the blame on Home Depot for not better protecting its employees.
Ms. Mohs said she was told that Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price has said she will not pursue elevated charges against suspect Benicia Knapps.
Ms. Price, who was elected this fall, circulated a memo this spring that advised all prosecutors in her office to seek probation in most plea deals and pursue sentencing enhancements only in “extraordinary” circumstances.
“Apparently, my son’s life didn’t deserve to be lived because these [suspects] deserve to be rehabilitated instead,” Ms. Mohs said.
Retailers have sounded the alarm on theft, shoplifting and smash-and-grabs hitting epidemic levels in some American cities.
The National Retail Federation reported that “inventory shrink” — or inventory lost to customer theft, employee theft, human errors or other reasons — hit $94.5 billion in 2021, which is a 53% jump from where it was in 2019.
The uptick in losses has some big-box retailers fleeing from the most crime-ridden U.S. cities.
Nordstrom and Banana Republic have left the San Francisco Centre shopping mall. Mall operator Westfield decided to leave the city as well. Nike and REI have shut down stores in Portland, Oregon, because of brazen theft. Walmart has evacuated from Chicago’s Southside and parts of the District of Columbia, and Best Buy is retreating nationwide because of lower spending and theft-induced losses.
Social media videos regularly show drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens being targeted for their basic supplies. Walgreens revealed a new layout for one of its storefronts in Chicago this month that seems to mitigate the risk of theft.
The redesigned location has only two aisles that customers can peruse. The remainder of the store’s items must be ordered on a digital kiosk near the entrance. Once customers place their order, employees select the items and bring them to the patrons.
A Walgreens spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times that the changes weren’t made in response to crime but to better curate the customer experience.
Experts who study theft see how the new design represents a lack of faith in customers to shop responsibly.
“I do think trust, at all levels, is eroding, and that’s a consequence of harmful actions [some shoppers] take,” Read Hayes, the director of the Loss Prevention Research Council, told The Times.
It explains why many basic items in CVS stores around the District — including body wash, skin lotion, toothpaste and deodorant — are locked behind glass.
Mr. Hayes said shoplifters seem to be feeling less shame and embarrassment. Some crooks even record themselves committing crimes.
“They don’t seem to care. They’re bragging about it,” Mr. Hayes said.
Barbara C. Staib, a spokesperson for the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention, told The Times that a breakdown in community connections makes people feel less attached to the stores they visit.
Customers and store owners used to be well-acquainted. If a shopper tried stealing something, a parent, spouse or friend would hear about it.
“We were working on the honor system, and relying on the honesty of our shoppers and the people in our stores,” Ms. Staib said. “That has dwindled.”
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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