Amendments address problem of professional shoplifters
Oklahoma’s Legislature and Governor took a big step on their path to criminal justice reform in 2016 when they approved a law raising the threshold for some felony property crimes, including shoplifting, from $500 to $1,000.
But, according to the Oklahoma Retail Merchants Association and a state retail theft consultant, that change generated a negative effect, as it emboldened some shoplifters to boost their activities.
That’s because the felony threshold only applies to a single incident where someone is caught.
On March 14, however, the Legislature moved to address the issue by introducing proposed amendments to the statute that would add language to deter organized retail crime.
If adopted, the amendments would allow authorities to charge a shoplifting offender with a felony if the offender is caught shoplifting three or more times within a month’s time and the value of what he or she is accused of having stolen exceeds $1,000.
Authorities also would be allowed to charge a shoplifting offender with a felony after he or she is caught once, if investigators believe two or more people were involved and the value of what they are believed to have stolen exceeds $1,000.
With those additions, amendment backers say they believe professional shoplifters no longer could expect to continue to be set free each time they are caught.
Norm Smaligo, a retail theft consultant and a loss prevention specialist for a retail firm that operates a chain of stores in Oklahoma, applauds the proposal.
Smaligo said many states that have undertaken criminal justice reforms have included similar language in their overhauls to limit the activities of professional thieves.
He notes that he and other loss prevention specialists have seen an increase in the average value of goods people are getting caught trying to steal since the 2016 law took effect in November.
He also said they are seeing a sizable jump in
the numbers of apprehensions they are making.
Smaligo said the people who are boosting their shoplifting efforts are those who steal to make a living.
“Professional shoplifters know what the felony limits are,” Smaligo said, “so, they will go to say, a Wal-Mart, and they will steal something worth $900, and then, they will walk out the door, and go to Target and steal something worth $900, and then, they’ll go to the next Wal-Mart and steal something else worth $900, and then go on to another store.
“They do this all day long because they know that in most places in Oklahoma, if you get apprehended for shoplifting something worth less than $1,000, you get a ticket and are allowed to walk out the door.
“You don’t go to jail. And then, when you do go to city court for that ticket, you are probably ... never going to see the inside of a jail, either. And these people are hitting us for literally tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise a day.”
The problem
Smaligo stressed his concerns aren’t based in paranoia. He said he and other retail loss prevention specialists meet monthly, usually with local and federal law officers, to share information about professional shoplifters they see moving in and out of their stores on a regular basis.
Often, they communicate with one another daily as they track suspected shoplifters through strings of stores covering an entire metropolitan area before finally making an apprehension.
He also said the criminals frequently unload their stolen booty at pawnshops along the way, making it difficult for investigators to recover what they suspect was taken.
“Our concern here is not the one-time, first-time shoplifter,” he said. “Diversion programs are great, because if we can catch that person and get him or her into that program, it really works.
“And yes, there are some people who steal to support their drug addictions or because they have a mental health issue that needs addressed,” Smaligo said. “I agree, those people need help. But the people I am talking about are the every day, all day shoplifters who do it because it’s their jobs.
“There is literally one thing we’ve found that gets those people to stop. It’s locking them up.”
Georgia’s example
Oklahoma’s amendments, introduced by Sen. Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, mirror language Georgia included in its criminal justice statutes as part of its reforms that raised the felony threshold for shoplifting crimes to a higher amount.
The amendments would modify a measure already approved by the Oklahoma House this session, House Bill 2281, which changes numerous criminal statutes to conform with voters’ approval of State Question 780 in November.
On March 15, former Speaker of the House Kris Steele, a vocal proponent of criminal justice reform, said he fully supports the added language.
Steele, who is serving a second consecutive year on Gov. Mary Fallin’s criminal justice reform task force, often has said people accused of property crimes likely have underlying mental health or substance abuse issues that a revamped criminal justice system could catch and address.
However, Steele also has said that he in no way condones the activity and stands firm on the principle that anyone caught and found guilty of stealing should be required to make restitution to the victim.
And, in cases where people are actually making a living by stealing, organized retail crime measures such as those used in Georgia are appropriate in Oklahoma, he said.
“You want to protect business owners and victims,” Steele said. “That’s our goal, when it pertains to property crimes.
“It’s not just an issue for the offender. It’s an issue for the victims, too.”
Smaligo said he hopes other criminal justice reformers see the value in such language and can get lawmakers to agree.
Before the 2016 law took effect in November, he said the average dollar amount stolen in a case worked by his company in Oklahoma was $192. After, the average dollar amount increased to $235.
Meanwhile, he said the number of average apprehensions made by his loss prevention staff have jumped by a third.
Both Smaligo and Kiley Raper, executive director of the Oklahoma Retail Merchants Association, said shoplifting not only costs retailers money, it also robs the state, counties and municipalities of sales tax money that could have been collected if the item were legally sold.
Raper said she continues to meet with members of the Legislature about the issue.
“We have a lot of educating to do, both with the Legislature and the public,” Smaligo said.
“People don’t realize how this affects the community, because they think of shoplifting as kids stealing candy from convenience store, not people stealing $20,000 in merchandise in a day.”