Time to get tough with shoplifters

TO MANYpeople, shoplifting may seem a victimless crime.

The general perception is that retailers are insured against loss when some members of society help themselves, but the truth is far more costly for shop owners and their honest customers.

Billions are leaking out of the retail sector through crime, be it large-scale fraud or light-fingered pilfering from shelves.

That cost has to be met somewhere and, as revealed in the first part of The Courier’s special investigation today, it is hard-pressed shoppers who are bearing the brunt.

Despite the toll such acts are taking on squeezed family finances and shops’ wafer thin profit margins, even when the shoplifters are caught, they are not dealt with properly.

The court system is choked with other matters and the theft of a few items from a corner shop shelf is not deemed fit for an appearance before a JP or sheriff.

Little wonder then that petty theft is seen as a minor matter in some circles.

Is it time for the justice system to come down harder on persistent shoplifters?

Direct measures, such as fiscal fines, were created specifically to deal with “low level” crime.

On-the-spot fines are a time-effective means to punish perpetrators but they clearly do not work.

After all, it is a minority that steal items despite being able to otherwise afford them, so fining someone already struggling for cash — whether because of an addiction or to put food on the table — will serve only to deepen the cycle of offending.

It seems the time has come for a re-think.