Back to School the Wrong Way

Shoplifting cost the nation’s retailers $15 billion in 1996, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation. The back-to-school shopping season is one of the peak shoplifting times of year.

Shoplifters Anonymous reports that one of every 11 Americans shoplifts. Although only 25% of shoplifters who are caught are juveniles, one in five adult shoplifters say that they acquired the habit in their teens. Figures from the 1996 Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in Rockville, Md., show that out of 2,452 high school seniors surveyed, 12.9% admitted to having shoplifted. RACHEL FISCHER asked the security chiefs of area malls how they are protect the centers.

BILLIE VICKERS

Director of public safety, Century City Shopping Center & Marketplace

We have definitely seen an increase in children and teen [shoppers] during back-to-school season this year. We have had people who are visiting Los Angeles from many places do their back-to-school shopping here. Fortunately, we have not seen any increase in criminal activity. Parents are pretty involved around here.

Stores have geared up for this period and they are very vigilant about shoplifting activity. As the head of security, I dress in business attire, not a uniform. This allows me to observe activities without being obvious. I am the parent of two teens myself, so my approach to the kids who are our customers is to treat them the way I want security to treat my kids at the mall where they go: with respect. The teens are customers too and we should not assume that they’re potential shoplifters.

But I do find that, in a lot of shoplifting cases, it’s peer pressure. So when I see a group of kids in the mall, I go over and say “hi,” because when you’re a kid, the last thing you want is to attract the attention of an authority figure. With the kinds of shoplifting crimes I see--mother-and-son stealing teams, parents hiding stuff in strollers--nothing surprises me anymore.

FLOYD SIMMONS

Security director, Beverly Center

In a week, we have five or fewer shoplifting incidents. When you consider that we have as many as 16,000 people visit this mall on a weekend day, that’s not a lot.

We focus on our officers creating a presence. Word gets around fast that if you shoplift here, the police will respond and you will be prosecuted. We ban those who commit a crime from coming back to the center; we photograph the offender and make him sign a document that goes on file.

My advice to store managers is this: Giving good customer service will keep down theft.

Occasionally, I’ll get a parent call and say, “My kid was kicked out of the mall. I’ve got to go to work and I need him to buy shoes. Can he come back?” I’ll say yes. This shows me that I’ve got a parent who is concerned. There’s no way we can memorize the face of every kid who is banned, but they think we can. If they’re brazen enough to come back, they’re going to behave.

LARRY MAYES

Security director, Santa Monica Place

Santa Monica Place is fortunate not to have a high incidence of shoplifting--our year-to-date figures show a 77% decrease in reported incidents through July. But if we have reason to suspect that crime is going on in the mall, we conduct a sting operation.

We do not anticipate additional threats in the higher-traffic back-to-school period. But stores are increasing their security efforts.

My approach is to train our officers for every situation and to maintain a strong communication network with the Santa Monica Police Department. We typically notice a higher incidence of reported shoplifting when school is out--summer and the holidays. It’s adults as well as kids who do the shoplifting. Shoplifters never have a good excuse for why they do it; they usually say they just wanted to.

Being proactive with the SMPD has made a tremendous difference. They assist in the training of our officers and also train merchants in crime prevention. It’s each merchant’s decision whether to prosecute; I always encourage them to. It sends a message and decreases the chances of the shoplifting party coming back.

BLANCA OJEDA

Project manager, American Commercial Security Services, the company guarding Sherman Oaks Galleria

I’m not able to comment specifically on the Galleria for several reasons, but based on 15 years of experience, you’re very limited as to what you can do about shoplifting inside each business. Store managers have to take measures to make sure it doesn’t happen. A manager or store employee will see this crime being committed and they’ll call us. But they’ll be content with the fact that the criminal returned the merchandise and the problem is resolved.

That causes a problem for us, because if somebody knows that all they have to do is return the merchandise, then there’s no danger for them. If owners were insistent about pressing charges, shoplifters would know to avoid a certain mall.

When it comes to back-to-school season, a parent being present discourages a child from shoplifting.

A few times I’ve been there when minors have been caught when the parents were present. Once, I had this boy who was just acting too nervous, so we observed him. Then a woman came along, screaming her head off that some guy had stolen pants from her store. But we see the kid and there’s no bag, there’s nothing. We eventually learned he was wearing eight pairs of pants. The reason we found out is that when we asked him to answer a couple of questions, he tried to run. But because his jeans were so thick, it became a problem.