NCJ Number
102035
Date Published
1986
Length
275 pages
Annotation
This comprehensive study of shoplifting in England not only examines statistics and previous research, but also surveys the operating practices of store detectives, the police role, and penalties imposed by the courts.
Abstract
Following a review of research based on official statistics, the book looks at self-report and participant observation studies which show that many people engage in shoplifting at one time or another and generally take items of low value. Laws underlying shoplifting and its control are discussed. Interviews with chief security officers reveal that most stores consider store detectives as the best means of controlling shoplifting. An examination of store detectives' practices addresses actions that make them suspicious, methods of controlling the potential shoplifting population, interview techniques, and the law enforcement versus peacekeeping roles adopted by individual detectives. The police use of cautioning in shoplifting cases is described, as is the prosecution process. If shoplifters are formally charged, they usually come before a magistrate and are fined. For most shoplifters, the experience of being apprehended and treated as a criminal is the most anxious and degrading of their lives. Tables, footnotes, glossary, index, and bibliography of approximately 200 references.