IMPORTANT FACTS:

Shoplifting Facts

IMPORTANT: The perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the comment section following this article.

More than $13 billion worth of goods are stolen from retailers each year. That’s more than $35 million per day.

There are approximately 27 million shoplifters (or 1 in 11 people) in our nation today. More than 10 million people have been caught shoplifting in the last five years.

Shoplifting affects more than the offender. It overburdens the police and the courts, adds to a store’s security expenses, costs consumers more for goods, costs communities lost dollars in sales taxes.

Shoplifters steal from all types of stores including department stores, specialty shops, supermarkets, drug stores, discounters, music stores, convenience stores and thrift shops.

There is no profile of a typical shoplifter. Men and women shoplift about equally as often.

Approximately 25 percent of shoplifters are kids, 75 percent are adults. 55 percent of adult shoplifters say they started shoplifting in their teens.

Drug addicts, who have become addicted to shoplifting, describe shoplifting as equally addicting as drugs.

57% of adults and 33% of juveniles say it is hard for them to stop shoplifting even after getting caught.

Habitual shoplifters steal an average of 1.6 times per week.

Source: National Association of Shoplifter Prevention

Who is a Shoplifter?

Shoplifters can be male or female, any race or color, as young as five or well into their 80s.

Anyone who deliberately takes merchandise from a store without paying for it is a shoplifter, whether the theft is large or small, premeditated or impulsive.

Young people account for about 50-percent of all shoplifting.

Shoplifting is usually the first type of theft attempted by juveniles, and it may lead to more serious crimes.

Many respectable people fall into the category of impulse shoplifting.

Impulse shoplifters have not premeditated their thefts, but a sudden chance (such as an unattended dressing room or a blind aisle in a supermarket)presents itself and the shopper succumbs to temptation.

Alcoholics, vagrants, and drug addicts can be driven by an urgent physical need to theft, as well as to other crimes.

Alcoholics, vagrants, and drug addicts are often clumsy or erratic in their behavior and may be easier than other types of shoplifters to detect.

Kleptomaniacs are motivated by a compulsion to steal. They usually have little or no actual use for the items they steal and in many cases could well afford to pay for them.

The professional shoplifter is in the business of theft, he or she is usually highly skilled and hard to spot.

Professionals generally steal items that will quickly be resold. They tend to concentrate on high-demand goods such as televisions, stereos, and other small appliances.

The professional may case a store or department well in advance of the actual theft.

Source: http://www.sba.gov/library/pubs/cp-2.txt ( The U.S. Small Business Administration Web site)