Is it unethical to stop shoplifters?

[Aspiring Humanist]

I work in a supermarket, and if I get caught turning a blind eye to a shoplifter I will be fired. Do I get fired and assist the shoplifter, or be complicit in capitalism and apprehend the most likely working class shoplifter?

[Susurrus]

It depends on the situation. If they are being subtle, then pretend to not notice. If they are being open about it and it would be impossible to say you didn't see them, then they're kind of asking for it.

[Decolonize The Left]

I work in a supermarket, and if I get caught turning a blind eye to a shoplifter I will be fired. Do I get fired and assist the shoplifter, or be complicit in capitalism and apprehend the most likely working class shoplifter?

I worked in a supermarket for a while and I made it a point to ignore any and all forms of shoplifting.

Just don't invite your friends over to lift a bunch of groceries and you should be fine - consider how difficult it would be to prove that an employee consciously ignored a total stranger's attempts at stealing. They tell you that so that you don't shoplift and that you develop a culture of suspicion towards 'undesirables.'

- August

[Manic Impressive]

If you work there and you catch someone you don't have much choice, although you could just be straight with them and say "oi I saw that, put it back and I won't call security". If you don't work there then it's none of your business.

[theblackmask]

In my years of retail experience, I've had this argument with more than a few people. I don't think it's unethical to stop a shoplifter, but I also don't think that should be your main concern while at work. If you do stop someone, make sure it's because you have to in order to watch your own ass.

My best advice is to learn where cameras are in your store. If the management can't see you, they can't prove that you allowed a person to shoplift.

[Tomhet]

It's an unfortunate it's a part of my job and I do it..

[danyboy27]

It depend, what happen when then inventory is highly innacurate?

Boring meeting, paycut or people get fired?

[Principia Ethica]

It depend, what happen when then inventory is highly innacurate?

Boring meeting, paycut or people get fired?

Isn't what customarily happens is that they find creative ways to make it seem like they lost more than they really did and end up paying no corporate taxes? Or am I coming across as a little too jaded with corporations?

[Public Domain]

I worked in retail (and might go back :( ) and I ignored shoplifters. They were kind enough to hide it very well. Didn't like cleaning up their empty packages of course.

Plus I helped that process along as well, :cool:

[Public Domain]

It depend, what happen when then inventory is highly innacurate?

Boring meeting, paycut or people get fired?
Board meetings up the whooo haww. Sometimes they rate your store by sales and lost product against the other stores.

I worked at a 'C' store where theft was moderate, at the bottom of the corporates list, so we as workers got less benifits.

[Zugunruhe]

I worked in retail for a couple of years. My policy is to look the other. By that, I mean, physically turn my head. I didn't see it.

[Leftsolidarity]

I work in a supermarket, and if I get caught turning a blind eye to a shoplifter I will be fired. Do I get fired and assist the shoplifter, or be complicit in capitalism and apprehend the most likely working class shoplifter?

Try your hardest to avoid a situation where you would HAVE to stop the person.

[Seresan]

Where I live the shoplifters are just greedy and stupid, and greed and stupidity are two things I am against. Stealing without need and capitalism aren't all that different, in a way.

[Sasha]

seems like a very similar situation as to drug use at my work, we dont search customers when they enter so as long as they are discrete and go to the toilet or such we dont care but if you are so stupid to stand on the dance floor with an bag of pills in your hands or openly snif your coke in the smoking room its their own stupid fault, i'm not going to jeopardize my income by letting that kind of stupidity slide.

[Pretty Flaco]

Honestly I think you guys are glorifying shoplifters too much. If I shoplift from a store it's not because I physically need something, it's because I want something but don't want to pay for it. :rolleyes:

My sister went through this stage where she wanted to shoplift EVERYTHING. And I feel sort of guilty now that I taught her how to not get caught, because I wouldn't want her getting in trouble.

Most people associate shoplifting with childishness too. They don't think "oh that poor guy has to shoplift just to get by.", they think more along the lines of "oh what an untrustworthy bastard he's probably a klepto"

[Leftsolidarity]

Honestly I think you guys are glorifying shoplifters too much. If I shoplift from a store it's not because I physically need something, it's because I want something but don't want to pay for it. :rolleyes:

My sister went through this stage where she wanted to shoplift EVERYTHING. And I feel sort of guilty now that I taught her how to not get caught, because I wouldn't want her getting in trouble.

Most people associate shoplifting with childishness too. They don't think "oh that poor guy has to shoplift just to get by.", they think more along the lines of "oh what an untrustworthy bastard he's probably a klepto"

Not every shoplifter is a klepto. I've known a number of people who have shoplifted only for needed items.

[danyboy27]

Board meetings up the whooo haww. Sometimes they rate your store by sales and lost product against the other stores.

I worked at a 'C' store where theft was moderate, at the bottom of the corporates list, so we as workers got less benifits.


i was asking to the OP, stores all handle this situation verry differently from eachother.

For exemple, where i work, if there are irregularities, its up to me to find out why, and believe me, if my boss can pin the blame on my incapacity to stop people from fucking up the inventory, she will.

[Dogs On Acid]

Honestly I think you guys are glorifying shoplifters too much. If I shoplift from a store it's not because I physically need something, it's because I want something but don't want to pay for it. :rolleyes:

My mother shoplifts because she doesn't even have enough money to buy a box of cereal. You obviously have never had to live with 1 cooked meal a day.

[Seresan]

It all depends on where you live. In my area there are only rich skater kids and rich computer nerds, the former of which tends to do the stealing.

I do have a friend, though, that can not afford to buy food, but he tends to go to churches and foodbanks for his meals, but I understand that alternative options are less common in some other places

[Pioneers_Violin]

Isn't what customarily happens is that they find creative ways to make it seem like they lost more than they really did and end up paying no corporate taxes? Or am I coming across as a little too jaded with corporations?

It's completely impossible to overestimate corporate deception, thievery, fraud, mischief and general skullduggery.

Whatever you could possibly imagine, even selling their own mothers vital organs on the black market, dumping nuclear waste in shopping malls or even marketing RAT POISON as a toothpaste additive, they've probably got a committee researching it and a building full of lawyers and lobbyists trying to make it legal.

No amount of shoplifting, including driving a fleet of (stolen) rental trucks through the front window and swiping the whole store could hope to compare with Corporate Thievery.

[Sir Comradical]

Turn a blind eye and walk away I suppose. I used do that kind of stuff when I was a kid.

[PhoenixAsh]

Well...that depends on where I see it happen. Big chains: fuck them. Small private owned or family shops...I might say something to the one doing the stealing.

I worked in a supermarket many, many years ago. Always ignored it. Got adressed on it once...told them it wasn't in my job description and if they wanted me to take risks they should give me a payrise....fired two weeks later. Coincidence??

[Dogs On Acid]

Well...that depends on where I see it happen. Big chains: fuck them. Small private owned or family shops...I might say something to the one doing the stealing.

I worked in a supermarket many, many years ago. Always ignored it. Got adressed on it once...told them it wasn't in my job description and if they wanted me to take risks they should give me a payrise....fired two weeks later. Coincidence??

Did you get a hefty payment from being fired? I'm not sure what it's like in your country but in Portugal if you are fired without a valid reason you get paid something like 2 months wages and holidays.

[Comrade Crow]

I work in a supermarket, and if I get caught turning a blind eye to a shoplifter I will be fired. Do I get fired and assist the shoplifter, or be complicit in capitalism and apprehend the most likely working class shoplifter?

Unless they are like blatantly just shoving candy bars up their shirts and down their pants or something absurd, conceivably, you could lie about any real shoplifting incident that would happen on the day to day. I can understand your dilemma, so, I would say, DADT, don't ask, don't tell.

[Smashcapitalists]

As a person that has shoplifted when I was a young kid it is fun to thrilling especially when you succeed :D while the employees are looking for shoplifters and they do not suspect anything. But generally people that shoplift need the item, so you can turn a blind a eye more power to you :D

[PhoenixAsh]

Did you get a hefty payment from being fired? I'm not sure what it's like in your country but in Portugal if you are fired without a valid reason you get paid something like 2 months wages and holidays.

No...I had a temporary contract so they gave me notice, I was 18 and didn't care much either way to find out. I didn't like the job that much...so I simply didn't show up after that anymore and they didn't bother to call or enforce the notice time. Economy was good so I had another job the very next day.

My last job though had to buy me out because they wanted to prevent a lengthy procedure to get permission to fire me. I wanted to prevent that too since I wanted to find a job right away. It turned out it cost them a little more than they expected. Basically I was "lucky" because they made several mistakes. One was that I knew where the dirt was burried, the second was not securing the harddrives (so i made copies) and the third was not disallowing direct resends of all incomming and outgoing mails...which were automatically backupped to my own system and email account from day one I started working there. So they quickly had to up the normal offer and multiply it by three and they had to wave any and all rights to a non competition clause....plus I got to use the company car, fuel card and phone for a few extra months (and boy did I see a lot of the country :D ). The down side for me was I was unemployed in a sector which was hit hardest by the economic depression and law changes...and because my specialty is in "soft skills" there wasn't much demand. I also got really sick...so it turned out I really needed that money. Still trying to find a job. I did learn that even the most friendly boss can turn into a blackmailing, lying cheating scumbag when they want to get rid of you. Unfortunately for him because of the above I could disprove all his claims and turn the tables. Otherwise I would have been truely fucked.

TRUST NOBODY...especially not your employer. Keep everything, back up everything and get confirmation for everything.

[Aspiring Humanist]

Honestly I think you guys are glorifying shoplifters too much. If I shoplift from a store it's not because I physically need something, it's because I want something but don't want to pay for it. :rolleyes:

My sister went through this stage where she wanted to shoplift EVERYTHING. And I feel sort of guilty now that I taught her how to not get caught, because I wouldn't want her getting in trouble.

Most people associate shoplifting with childishness too. They don't think "oh that poor guy has to shoplift just to get by.", they think more along the lines of "oh what an untrustworthy bastard he's probably a klepto"

Most people also think the homeless are simply drug addicted lowlives
Fuck what the majority thinks

[Rusty Shackleford]

i had a terrible experience in this situation.

An older woman (im guessing 70s or 60s) came in loking for sandals. It was december. So, obviously in my hemisphere its not happy sunshine but cold and wet. The was wearign sandals and was pushing one of those collapsible mini-karts that many homeless people have. She was also wearing mildly tattered clothing.

Her feet, i hate to say, were disgusting but i dont blame her. She just wanted cheap sandals.

I was new on the job but i knew she needed the cheapest possible general footwear. I ended up giving her 2 pairs of a sandal but i was conflicted. I couldnt let her get away with possibly lifting the stuff right after i had been talked to about thefts at the store. i put the boxes in her car but i told her "make sure the cashiers see them" i dont know if i am remembering correctly, but i think i may have notified the cashiers too.

:crying:

[Shropshire Socialist]

I have worked in shops on and off since I left school in the mid-1980s. I can say that while most shoplifting is from people that need the items (generally food), in some cases they do it because of the thrill, not because they can't afford to pay for the goods. Others do it to order for someone else, and this tends to be larger or more expensive items.

At the end of the day shoplifting isn't a victimless crime because the stores just put up their prices and make everyone else pay more.

So while I sympathise with the needy who have to do this to feed themselves and their familes, I have no sympathy at all with those who do it for a thrill or to make money.