My understanding is that Target’s loss prevention forensics team makes some police departments look amateur. Also, the aggregate shoplifting for an individual is “allowed” until the dollar amount crosses the line for it to be considered a felony. At that point, the fat stack of evidence is handed to local DA/PD. The same tech used for tracking your browsing and purchase behaviors also works pretty well for identifying and tracking known shoplifters. I’d wager that going after every instance of misdemeanor theft would be an ineffective use of resources at their scale.

With that said, it makes less than zero sense for Target to ask retail employees to risk their lives in order to stop someone stealing a cart full of Tide or pockets full of sonicare replacement heads. Not to mention, the potential for interventions to quickly escalate and become a danger to other shoppers.

Railway police are often certified law enforcement officers with police and arrest powers. And armed.

Not having their own courts seems to be a problem though. No one can get convictions anymore.

Cameras, shorter trains, more personnel. They all make it more likely that certain details about the thieves' operation are documented; how many people are involved, in what direction they traveled, etc.

I mean, their name is “Target”. What were they expecting?

Along the same lines, why aren't UPS or FedEx trucks robbed? The driver probably won't do anything, these aren't armored cars.