Shoplifting on the Rise - Chickens Do Fly!
According to news reports, the crime of retail theft (shoplifting) is spiraling upward. In some cases, like Cookeville, Tennesee, retail thefts have increased 80% over last years numbers - and this is just in reported thefts. Shoplifting from grocery stores has increased 300%. Having worked in grocery loss prevention I can relate that this is the trend whenever the economy goes south. It’s a fact, people have to eat.
It’s not just a trend here in the United States. I recently was contacted by a European newspaper for an article about the sharp increase in food thefts there. The criminal cases are overloading the court system and retailers are looking for ways to reduce their losses.
One British grocery giant, Sainsbury, has added frozen chickens to their “high theft” category. They started applying security tags to the birds, a staple of the British Sunday brunch, as chickens are flying from the freezer cases. If the tagged bird is passed through the security gates without the security tag being removed, an alarm will sound alerting store employees.
When theft increases retailers increase their prices to the consumer. It’s a vicious cycle - we all pay more.
Curtis Baillie - Security Management Consultant