- [Narrator] John and Vicki Damer took the biggest financial gamble of their young lives when they borrowed heavily to open and operate their own business. - Can I help you? - Yes. I would really like to get- - [Narrator] They and their customers share a unique experience. - If I break one, can I get more later? - [Narrator] Our modern self-service stores operate on trust. Americans are free to browse, compare, and select at their own pace. Rarely need more than a short wait to pay for their personal selections. The entire system is based upon honesty. Unfortunately, some persons lack either the intelligence, training, or character that sustains a free-enterprise society. The trust with which most people carry on the simplest daily affairs is to them only an opportunity for thievery. - And I've gotta show you something. Look at this. Walked in yesterday and picked this up. 15 bucks. - [Narrator] They're persons like Connie, a young woman so unsure of herself that she uses thievery to try and impress schoolmates. She doesn't realize that she's also warning them she cannot be trusted in their homes or with their possessions. One popular fallacy is that shoplifters do it for a lark. Rarely true. Those few novices provide an excuse for the vast majority of thieves who shoplift solely out of personal greed. An all too common mistake was the one John Damer made when he caught Connie stealing. - Hey, take it outta your pocket. What's your name? - Connie. - Connie what? I'm gonna call your parents. - Please don't call my parents. - [Narrator] Because she cried and pleaded that it was her first time, John relented. - I'm sorry. - He let her go free on her word of honor not to steal again. - You should have seen this guy, he was such a jerk. I mean, I started walking out. - [Narrator] Thieves have no honor. Connie's way of repaying the Damers was to boast about how easily she had fooled the shopkeepers. - It couldn't have been easier. - [Narrator] When a merchant does not prosecute a shoplifter, word spreads quickly in the corridors and on the street. Every area has business establishments that thieves avoid because they're tough on shoplifters, and merchants whose reputations for being easy attract hordes of thieves. In such establishments, authorities estimate that one of every four customers who enter is looking for the opportunity to steal. - That's gonna be kind of kind of tough this month. Our cash flow is down with all these losses. - [Narrator] Because stealing increases the cost of doing business, thieves increase the price of merchandise honest customers buy. - $184? - When losses mount and prices soar, - Utilities and everything else. - businesses fail. It's no exaggeration. John and Vicki's experience is just another cipher in a dreadful statistic. In a recent year, thievery accounted for 30% of all business failures in the United States. The activities of shoplifters, the criminal horde, are not confined to shops. Such persons also steal from restaurants, libraries, private automobiles, and acquaintances. - Pack these. We can use 'em. - [Narrator] The only difference between stealing towels from a motel and stealing them from a store counter is the thief's estimate of the comparative risk. By their example, Billy's parents taught him that stealing was okay if you just called it by another name, such as taking souvenirs. Billy took souvenirs regularly for several years. He was caught less than once in every 20 attempts. Sympathetic store managers, police, and judges let him go half a dozen times. Today, he is locked behind bars with other young criminals, and his parents don't understand where he went wrong. Most shoplifters are repeaters. The only way to combat them is to be aware of the problem, to be alert, and to prosecute. Since the average thief is not as bright as he or she imagines, the same methods of shoplifting keep being reinvented. Methods of concealment still encountered include the wearing of overcoats or jackets with large pockets or with slits in the lining. False maternity clothes designed to conceal bulky items. Some women shoplifters favor loose skirts and actually practice walking with stolen goods held between the thighs. And it's a rare clothing department that doesn't encounter the person who attempts to walk out wearing several layers of new clothing. The booster box with its snap closing end still shows up occasionally, though today it's often something as small and inconspicuous as a cigarette carton. Doesn't appear as if it would hold much, but it will conceal hundreds of dollars worth of jewelry, cosmetics, and small items. Current hot items in the criminal resale market include video tape machines and stereo radios. They've brought back the toy box switch. The thief removes the toy, slips in the expensive merchandise, and pays $10 for an $800 item. A common ploy still attempted every day is the switching of price tags. The use of tight sticking tags makes it more difficult to substitute a cheaper tag for a more expensive one, but they still try it. Switching computer barcodes is one of the latest scams. Having clipped the barcode from a package of cheap goods and using a glue stick, the thief sticks it over the barcode of a costlier item. Such persons hope the clerk will be so bored with the printed or voiced readout that the discrepancy will pass unnoticed. Alertness would make such thievery impossible. On less expensive items, some shoplifters take only half chances. They leave the desired item protruding from purse or pocket. - Yes, that's all. - What about the foil in your purse? - Oh, oh, I forgot the foil. - [Narrator] If the checkout clerk asks about it, they pretend it was an obvious oversight. If they're not challenged, they walk out without paying for it. Shoplifters often come in a group, designating one or two members to distract attention while the others do the stealing. Today, professional thieves may come equipped with their own shopping bags. In variety stores or supermarkets, they load the sacks they smuggled in. They count on clerks assuming that anyone with goods in a store sack must have passed through a check stand. Frequently, there are game machines near the exit where they can pause to see if they've been observed. If unnoticed, the thief just walks out. Lesson, the presence of a store bag is no guarantee its contents have been purchased. - Hi. Will that be cash or charge? - [Narrator] Neither is a paid-for receipt if nobody looks at it. In a not-untypical theft, one partner buys a low cost item and gets a paid-for receipt. The other partner takes the receipt back into the store and attaches it to an expensive item. Some are brazen enough to allay suspicion by approaching a security guard. - Thanks. Just bought this new stereo. Suppose you can help me get it out to the car? - [Security Guard] Sure, all I'll have to do is check your receipt here. - [Narrator] In case any of these stunts strike anyone as clever, it should be pointed out they are all taken from reports made by the arresting police officers. - Wait a minute, partner. If you could just turn around here. Put your hands behind your back. - [Narrator] What can business persons do to forestall the thieves? Personal service stores should train employees to observe and assist customers. The honest person will not resent this show of courtesy if it's made clear that he or she is welcome to browse. The dishonest, knowing they're observed, tend to leave as soon as possible. - Can I help you? - No, I was just looking. Thank you. - Okay. - You wanted to look at- - Merchandise arrangement is important. Put small and costly items behind display cases, out of customers' reach. Keep valuable items near an employee station. Arrange displayed merchandise in patterns for easy reading. So if one is suddenly missing, the pattern is visibly distorted. Experienced shoplifters, incidentally, know that an empty hanger is easily noticed, so they take it along. - Karen, could you please help that lady over there? - [Narrator] If you hear a cracking sound from the clothing department, be warned. - One, two. - Control access to dressing rooms. - You're welcome. - Keep a check on items taken into dressing rooms and items returned. Several devices are available, which can be attached to merchandise. We won't make all their secrets public, but generally, if not deactivated by a sales clerk, they set off alarms or perform other actions when carried through the exit door. How do you spot shoplifters? They look no different from honest customers and may be any age. The largest group consists of young people, junior-high-age and up, and the largest number within that group are young females. The latter are particularly active around clothing and cosmetics departments. Not all shoplifters wear large coats or carry large handbags. Not all appear sneaky and nervous. The best defense is awareness of the problem. Some things to be alert for. - Can I help you with something? - Oh. - [Narrator] Customers who avoid helpful employees or leave areas when others approach. Many shoplifters are inclined to watch the movements of employees and other shoppers and to seek unoccupied areas of the store. A customer who looks to see who is nearby or checks the mirror before or after picking up an item is one to watch. If you see a customer pick items without checking the price, at least ask yourself why price doesn't concern that person. How do you apprehend a shoplifter? - Hey, stop. I saw you take that. - Take what? - [Narrator] State laws vary, and you need to know what your state specifies. Generally, the suspect must have had the opportunity to pay and avoided it. - You have no choice. Let's go. - Okay. - [Narrator] If the thief runs outdoors, untrained persons should not give chase. There are too many ways of getting hurt. Leave chasing to the police. Instead, observe all you can about the person. If a car is involved, get a description of it and a license number if possible. - Go this way, and I'll follow you. - Okay, all right. Just, just don't push me. - Okay. - [Narrator] When you stop a suspected shoplifter, ask the person to step into the office. Let the suspect walk ahead. If allowed to follow, the thief will likely discard the stolen goods. - Excuse me, Mr. Kromer. I saw this young man taking something from our store. - Oh, well thank you. - [Narrator] Do not accept belated payment for the merchandise. That is the escape habitual thieves count on. I mean, I meant to. Look. Let me pay for it now, okay? - I tell you, our company policy is call the police in these matters, and we'll let you explain it to them. - [Narrator] Call the police. And if you don't want a continuous horde of such shoppers, - I was gonna pay for your- - prosecute each case. - [Mr. Kromer] Police department? This is Art Kromer at Gibson's. - [Friend] What are we stopping here for? - [Driver] But I thought you wanted records. - [Friend] Not this store. If we go in here, we'll have to pay for 'em. - Yeah, let's go to one of the easy ones. - Okay. Ready or not, here we come.