Colum Coomey reports on a growing trend
RETAILERS and security guards in Limerick city centre believe that shoplifting is on the rise and that perpetrators have become braver and more blatant.
The manager of a high street fashion outlet said they have had become extremely vigilant: “We have had to put three security tags on all of our leathers because it was such a problem”.
She added that people were robbing to order: “We have seen patterns of certain stock and specific sizes being taken in the same week.
“It’s definitely on the rise in the last year and even within the last month, and it is just completely blatant”.
The Limerick Post learned that some chain stores with a presence here did not have the necessity to employ security in their other branches.
A person working in security for four years said: “I’ve been scratched, spat at and abused by people of all ages but you have to learn to ignore. Sometimes people will just roar abuse into the shop at me because I’m a security guard and on my days off, I’ll get abuse from those I have barred”.
He is concerned at the recent rise in incidents. “This is the worst year we’ve had now for a long time and it seems to have started earlier than usual, towards the end of November when traditionally it would kick- off around the middle of December”.
The protocol for most businesses is to avoid conflict but this can be difficult, as one store manager explained: “Last week, a member of staff spotted someone placing items in their bag and asked them to leave, but they reacted badly and started to roar abuse at the staff member and the Gardai had to be called”.
Gardai are not always called: “We don’t want to call them four or five times a week… there’s nothing they can do unless we can contain the person in the store”.
The manager of a knitwear shop explained what serial shoplifters are looking for: “Most we get are looking to get their hands on something they can sell off quickly”.
Another manager wasn’t afraid to admit that the classic distraction method is still widely used: “Last week, a man dropped a set of wine glasses and when staff were cleaning up, he robbed some other items. He was later arrested in another shop”.
A shoe shop assistant said: “We never really catch any one in the act but we often see stock missing”.
On Cruises Street, security guards have radio contact between shops to tackle shoplifting, and some spoke of their experiences.
One security guard on William Street, said that he has suffered racial abuse.
Another admitted it can be difficult to stop professional shoplifters: “They know when I’ll be on lunch and a lot of the time the staff on the floor don’t recognise the people that have been barred, and then they will come in”.
While on Cruises Street, the security guards were monitoring a known shoplifter as they travelled from shop to shop.
One said he was frustrated by the repeat offenders: “They have become very brave, some will get three months after getting caught and they will be out in two days and back into the shop the next week thinking that you won’t recognise them”.
In one shop the security guard explained that there were certain families that caused continual problems: “I won’t name them, but they come in groups and while you are dealing with a few of them at one side of the shop, the other will rob the other side”.
He stated that the habit wasn’t limited to specific groups: “I’ve caught kids as young as eight and middle aged men and women. Last week, whatever way I looked, I caught a group of students who were putting stuff into their bags”.
