Shoplifting Highest Causes of Losses

All crimes should have consequences, even petty crimes such as shoplifting.

Recently, the annual report entitled the Global Retail Theft Barometer was released, indicating some increasingly scary statistics.  The study reported that shoplifting was the highest cause of losses in most countries surveyed.  Worldwide, shoplifting retailers one hundred and twenty eight billion dollars in the last year alone.  This figure averages one and a third percent of all retail sales and, as a result, indicates that shoplifting costs consumers in the United States four hundred and three dollars per household.  This indicates that shoplifting is a global problem that hurts economies as well as family and community values.  While this figure may not seem overwhelmingly large, in such a strained period following the Great Recession, often every dollar can count.

As a result, Turning Point Justice has teamed up with the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention to address the issue, according to a post completed for the website.  To Turning Point Justice, the biggest problem with shoplifting is a lack of consequences, which, in turn, encourages repeat offenses.  As a result, the two organizations have worked together to create the Crime Accountability Program, otherwise known as CAP.  The program has resolved to work between businesses and qualifying first time offenders in shoplifting to reduce the costs and time consumed in reaching restitution.  The efforts of the two organizations reduce the amount of times police are called to the scene of a petty crime, allowing law enforcement officers the freedom to address more serious crimes and reducing the costs of valuable resources.

CAP has proven to deliver results.  The program helps retailers double restitution collections to repair financial damages.  In addition to this, it reduces police calls to stores by more than fifty percent.  These early indicators have fueled Turning Point Justice with hope that in future Global Retail Theft Barometer reports, their efforts will show a marked improvement in the cost of shoplifting per household in the United States.

from Lohra Miller| Restorative Justice http://ift.tt/135oPQG