Re:Home Depot is introducing power tools that won’t work if ...
by drak0n1c on Monday August 02, 2021 @09:55AM
(#28036548)
Regarding your last question, the city has for a while now decided not to prosecute shoplifting cases. Here is an article from 2018 about the phenomenon. It has gotten worse since then and the open street bazaars of stolen goods have grown much larger. I’ve decided to move to greener pastures a few months ago, but during a company event when I traveled back the CVS next to the hotel was brazenly shoplifted from the two times I stepped inside to buy essentials.
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/tonight-at-5-pm-on-kiro-7-o...
Re:Home Depot is introducing power tools that won’t work if ...
by retSava on Monday August 02, 2021 @09:58AM
(#28036589)
1) many thieves doesn't care. The most brazen ones simply fill up a large sportsbag or similar, then just leave. They don't care if someone spots them, they win on signalling pure aggression and implicit threat of "if you try to stop me I will hurt you". We have that problem at our local food store - three guys come in, one holds the bag, one stuffs it with all the expensive meat, the third stares aggressively on any bystander. Then they just walk out of there.
2) doesn't matter as long as what they have is valuable and can be sold on easily. The thieves are not opening a store on their own.
Re:Home Depot is introducing power tools that won’t work if ...
by orthoxerox on Monday August 02, 2021 @01:27PM
(#28039735)
> The really interesting thing is: why does the police not "follow the money" and take out those advertising likely-stolen tools for sale in the open?
Too costly to prosecute. How can you prove that this specific chainsaw has been stolen? "Yes, I am selling my chainsaw. No, I won't talk to you, officer, unless I am under arrest and I have my lawyer present."
Then you arrest them and what? You need something to show the jury.
Re:Home Depot is introducing power tools that won’t work if ...
by mschuster91 on Monday August 02, 2021 @04:12PM
(#28041986)
Why don't hardware retail shops use the same method that banks and IT retail shops use - tracking device serial numbers? When I go to the parts shop next door and buy an SSD, I get an invoice with the serial number written on it. This small inconvenience for the checkout staff should well be worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen equipment...
I'd guess that small businesses aren't as targeted by organized thieves as "big box" stores are:
1) They're smaller in size which means the likelihood of getting spotted by a staff member during a theft is higher
2) The amount (and diversity) of available goods to steal is lower
3) "Big box" stores don't have people carrying guns, their staff has a "don't intervene, we're insured anyway" policy drilled into them, and this is known. A small shopkeeper however? A thief can't reasonably know if the shop owner has a firearm under their desk or will get confrontational if stopped.
> After the experience repeated itself at a second store, I looked on OfferUp and found the exact chainsaw “new and unopened” at about half the retail price.
The really interesting thing is: why does the police not "follow the money" and take out those advertising likely-stolen tools for sale in the open?